Do You Remember Me?
by Kaze-no-Tenshi89
Summary: Seven years ago, Jimmy died to protect Cindy. Now Cindy is 18 and ready to start college. But who is her 18 year-old professor and why does he seem so familiar? Cindy embarks on a journey to help him discover his past... and future. COMPLETE
1. The Promise

Hello all. This is my first shot at a fanfiction… so please go easy on me! I hope the writing won't be too bad though... considering I've been writing stories and such most of my life. I just haven't gotten around to writing fics until now. (go me! lol) I've proofread this quite a few times already so I don't think there should be many mistakes. If there are any, sorry!

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron. If I did, there would be a fourth season!

**Chapter 1- The Promise**

It all started out as a perfectly normal trip to Mars. That is of course if you could call five 5th graders riding in a rocket made by an 11-year old to Mars "normal." The gang (Jimmy, Cindy, Libby, Sheen, Carl, and Goddard) was on this trip to Mars so that Jimmy could collect rock samples for his science project at school.

"Now we'll only be here for a few hours so don't go wandering off anywhere alone." Jimmy said to everyone. "Those rock-like Martians we ran into last time didn't exactly make us feel very welcome."

"I think we all remember _that,_ Neutron!" Cindy stated matter-of-factly. "Those stupid Martians almost blew up the entire Earth! However, I decided to bring some water bottles just in case any of them try to scare us again." She smiled and pulled out five water bottles, one for everyone. "I'm sure you remember that they're scared of water? Or did your overly large brain finally explode?" she added smartly.

Jimmy's eyes went wide with horror. "Cindy! What's the matter with you! We promised not to threaten them with water again!" He started pacing frantically. "If they find us with those water containers, the might believe we came back to attack them!" He headed towards Cindy and stopped just inches from her. "And who knows… they might end up attacking us before we even SEE them!" he practically yelled in her face.

"Jeez, Neutron! Keep it down!" She said back, looking around cautiously and trying to quiet him. "It was supposed to be just between the five of us… NOT the whole freaking planet! Unless they decide to attack us of course..."

Jimmy and Cindy continued arguing back and forth and after just standing around for forever watching them go at it, Libby decided she couldn't stand it anymore. She angrily walked in-between them and pushed them apart. "Will you both shut UP?" she said, annoyance heavy in her voice. "Let's just get those stupid rock samples Jimmy came for so we can get back home sooner!"

"Yeah!" Sheen chimed in. "Ultra Lord comes on in 4 hours, 26 minutes, and 3 seconds. I don't want to miss it because one of your adventures gets us almost killed… again!" he said, folding his arms and trying to put on the best annoyed-face he could muster.

"OK! OK! Let's just go find those rocks then…" Jimmy said, giving in. The rest of the time was spent in silence as Cindy, Libby, Sheen, and Carl helped Jimmy find the rocks he came there for.

"Well… I think that's all I need. Let's head back to my rocket. Goddard, locate our current position and the position of the rocket." Goddard's monitor popped up and displayed a map of Mars, with the gang's location as well as the rocket's. It was only located about two miles to the west of them. Jimmy began calculating in his head. "I believe it will take us about 32 minutes to walk back to the rocket. If we head back now, we can make it back to Retroville before 6:00 pm, just in time for dinner!" He said as his stomach began to growl.

The instant Jimmy said "dinner" Carl's face lit up with excitement. "Hey Jim, is your mom making dinner again tonight? Because if she is, do you think I could eat over there again? Your mom is so…" he stopped once he felt everyone's gaze on him. "I-I mean your mom's _cooking_ is so… good!" he said nervously.

"Oh…uh… Carl… I think we are um… having pizza tonight… and pizza night means no friends over... uh, so I don't think today would be a good day to come over for… dinner…"Jimmy said slowly, looking at Carl rather suspiciously.

Carl just sighed an "alright" and then began to stare off into space as the group started to walk back to the rocket. After about 25 minutes of walking, Carl stopped and started to pant heavily. "Hey Cindy, didn't you say you had some bottles of water with you?"

"Yeah, Carl. It doesn't look like we'll be attacked by anything so you can go ahead and drink yours." Cindy replied and tossed him a bottle of water.

"Thanks," he said simply before chugging the entire bottle. But before he could finish the last few gulps, a thunderous tremor began to shake the ground.

"JIMMY NEUTRON!" a voice roared and seemed to come from the ground itself. "YOU SWORE NOT TO BRING WATER BACK TO OUR PLANET! NOW YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS MUST BE DESTROYED!"

Just then, several of the extremely large rock-like Martians came out of the ground, shaking it, causing Carl to fall over, and began to surround the group. "W-Wait!" Jimmy nervously yelled to the Martians. "We didn't mean any harm! We only brought them to…" he quickly glanced over at Cindy and gave her an angry look. "…drink!" He then looked back to the creatures. "We weren't even_ thinking _(once again, he glared at Cindy) of hurting you!"

The "leader" of the group, the one who had spoken before, spoke again. "YOU LIE! NOW PREPARE TO DIE!" In the leader's hands appeared an energy ball, the same type of energy that Jimmy and Eustace had fought over on their previous trip to Mars.

"RUN!" Jimmy screamed to his friends. They all began running, with Carl at the tail end as usual. But he wouldn't be last for long. As the group dodged the blasts from the energy ball, Cindy tripped over a protruding rock and fell face forward, her bag spilling its contents at the same time.

The Martians noticed what was in her bag right away: the water bottles. "YOU! YOU MUST BE THE SOURCE OF THE EVIL! NOW DIE!" Cindy's eyes grew wide as the leader powered up its energy ball and aimed it at her. But she had twisted her ankle by the fall and couldn't run away.

"CINDY! NO!" Jimmy screamed and ran towards her, with Goddard at his side. "Goddard, activate protection shield 263-S!" He ran in front of Cindy and put up the shield, which was a glowing blue energy shield about 6 feet tall, just before the energy blast came.

"N-Neutron! W-What are you d-doing!" Cindy managed, her voice trembling.

"Get out of here Cindy!" He yelled back to her. "You and the others get back to the rocket and go! Goddard, once everyone is in the rocket, set it on autopilot and DO NOT come back until Cindy is home and everyone is safe! You should be able to get back to the rocket safely because the other Martians don't have any energy balls! So just avoid them as best you can!"

"But what about you!? Jimmy, we can't just leave you here!" Cindy said to him, as tears began to well up, realizing the situation. "The energy is way too–"

"Just go, Cindy! Don't worry about me! I promise that I will see you again!"

"But­­–"

"GO!"

Libby and Sheen ran up to Cindy and put her arms around their shoulders. The rocket wasn't very far away now, but the four of them traveled back to the rocket as fast as they could, avoiding the Martians along the way. Libby and Sheen helped Cindy get into the rocket after Carl, and then they joined them. Goddard hopped in last and programmed the rocket for autopilot.

As the rocket's engines began to roar, Cindy turned back to where Jimmy was. The shield was almost destroyed, due to the enormous power the energy blast contained.

"Jimmy…" she said almost to herself. And just like that, the shield was gone, and Jimmy was flying backwards through the air.

"Jimmy!" she said louder. When he landed about 100 feet away from the rocket, he slammed his head onto a rock. Cindy knew all too well that he was unconscious… and even possibly… dead. But it was too late. The rocket blasted off, leaving Jimmy to await his fate alone.

"JIMMY! NO!" Cindy screamed through tears as she looked back at his shrinking form, not being able to detect any movement from him. "YOU PROMISED!"

All Libby could do was hug Cindy, terrified herself, as her best friend cried on her shoulder. As much as Carl, Sheen, and Libby wanted to return to Mars to get Jimmy, they couldn't. Goddard had programmed the rocket on autopilot, and the only one who could take it off was Goddard. And Goddard could not disobey his master. He had to get Cindy home.

But Cindy wasn't going to give up without a fight. As they neared Retroville and Cindy could even see her house, she began pressing every button she could find to turn the rocket around, crying hysterically the whole while.

However, one button did do something. As the rocket began to approach the ground and lowered its wheels for landing, one of the buttons Cindy had pressed caused the wheels to retract. With no wheels for landing, the rocket crash-landed into Jimmy's front yard and sent the gang flying into the neighbor's yard.

Fortunately, they all came out of the crash with only some minor scrapes and bruises. Even Goddard still worked properly. But the rocket, however, was totally destroyed. There was no way Goddard could get back to Jimmy without a rocket. His own rockets just weren't strong enough.

Cindy just stared at the remnants of the rocket with horror. _"How can we get back to Mars to rescue Jimmy now?" _Her mind raced. Tears began to well up once more as she realized Jimmy wouldn't be keeping his promise to her. _"You promised me, Jimmy Neutron! You promised!"_

--

Tell me what you think of it so far… so please review!

**-brigette (aka: Kaze-no-Tenshi89)**


	2. Under the Stars

Hello again! Before we start the chapter… I'd just like to say thank you to everyone who reviewed! I'm going to try to update as much as I can. I don't think starting a story and not picking it up again after 5 months is very nice… lol. And once again... sorry if there are any mistakes!

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron. If I did, there would be a fourth season!

**Chapter 2- Under the Stars**

For James Isaac Neutron, there was no funeral service. No empty casket. Not even a gravestone. Cindy simply wouldn't allow it. She even had more power over his fate than his parents did. When Hugh and Judy Neutron wanted at least a funeral service or gravestone for their son, Cindy spent nearly 3 hours trying to convince them not to. She just knew in her heart that he would come back one day. And despite Hugh and Judy's first impressions of Cindy, which weren't exactly good ones, they warmed up to her. They realized just how much this girl loved their son and decided that they should follow her requests, at least for a time anyway.

Days, weeks, months, even years passed by and each day Cindy would stare out her bedroom window… waiting for him, hoping that he would return. He made a promise to her and she wasn't going to forget that.

The now foursome of Cindy, Libby, Sheen, and Carl all passed middle school (surprisingly for Sheen) and made it to Retroville High together. However, they weren't the same their senior year as they were the summer before 6th grade when Jimmy was still around. They never went on adventures anymore. Cindy was now top of the class again (earning back her title as resident-girl-genius) and even took care of Goddard (at the request of Jimmy's parents). Sheen wasn't as hyperactive as he used to be because of the loss of his friend. Carl became even more soft-spoken than he was before. Even though Libby wasn't exactly as close to Jimmy as her other friends had been, she still missed him. And as for Cindy's love life… well… she never fell in love again.

Love. Cindy hated to even think about that word nowadays. Whenever Libby would even hint at the subject, Cindy would change it. Cindy's love life, or lack thereof, didn't only affect her. Libby could see her friend suffering each day and she wanted to help her out... but it seemed the only way to do that was to have her move on. It was June and school was ending in only a few days. She wanted her best friend to have the best summer she ever had before they all went off to college in the fall. So she decided she had to try, no matter what, to bring it up that night as the two of them sat in the grass at the park.

"Cindy…"

"Libby… I know what your going to say. So don't even bother." Cindy interrupted.

"Just listen to me, OK?" Libby said rather calmly.

"Whatever…" Cindy just closed her eyes and laid on her back.

"You know I can't stand to see you like this… and I know having you see Sheen and I everyday doesn't help you either," she said as she stared at the grass. "So… why don't you just move on? I have a feeling Nick likes–"

"Stop it."

Cindy cut her off as she was reminded of "Mr. Popular." She learned that good looks and popularity aren't everything. And in Nick's case, they spelled out J-E-R-K. "I don't give a damn what Nick thinks of me. Maybe I did way back when in 5th grade when I had no brain. I don't like him anymore and I never will. OK? So please don't bring that moron back up again…"

Libby sighed. "Alright, alright. I'm just saying… I know you loved Jimmy and all but–"

"Wrong! I _love _him," Cindy corrected her. "Stop talking about him in the past tense all the time."

"Fine… I know you LOVE Jimmy and all but… I don't think he's coming back, Cind."

Every time one of her friends said that to her, Cindy wanted to just break down. She watched him as she, Libby, Sheen, Goddard, and Carl took off in Jimmy's rocket… leaving him there to die all alone on the Martian surface. She watched him fall into unconsciousness from hundreds of feet away, helplessly. The worst part was knowing that it was all her fault. She had brought the water but he risked his life to save her… And even though almost every sign that'd been thrown her way told of Jimmy's death, she still believed he was alive.

"He's alive, Libbs… I know he is."

"How can you possibly know that?" Libby questioned. "We all watched him die Cindy… and he hasn't come back for nearly seven years."

"My heart, Libby. Everyday I wake up and it tells me he's alive… somewhere." Cindy now turned to look up at the starry sky. "Maybe he's even still up there, in space, watching over me."

As Cindy began to stare up at the sky, Libby decided now probably wouldn't be the best time to argue with her. She probably had a lot on her mind. So Libby decided to let the subject go for now, as she, too, stared up at the stars.

--

That was kind of a short chapter, I'm sorry. But I think if I added anything more onto it… I might have ruined it! Also... sorry if it seems a little slow at the beginning. But I'm sure most of you know that most stories need to build up the background a little bit before getting really "into it."

Thanks for reading!

**-brigette (aka: Kaze-no-Tenshi89)**


	3. On the Road

Thank you so much for all of those reviews! I can't believe I already have 20! Hugs for you all! Like usual, sorry if there are any mistakes!

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron. If I did, there would be a fourth season!

**Chapter 3- On the Road**

Finally, it was the day the four of them had been waiting for.

Graduation! (Which of course didn't come easy for Sheen. He had to take summer school every single year up until then!)

Libby, Cindy, Sheen, and Carl were all dressed up in their traditional black graduation gowns and hats. The four of them were standing next to each other with the rest of their graduating class on the theater stage for what seemed like hours as all of their parents took photos and cried over how their "precious babies were getting so old."

Once they could finally move from their practically frozen positions in front of the hundreds of parents, Libby let out a great sigh. "Man… I never thought that would end!"

"Yeah, me neither!" Sheen added. "It was like Ultra Lord episode 764 when he was attacked by the flashing aliens of planet Zirknoid!" Yes, Sheen was still obsessed with Ultra Lord. But that's OK, because that's what makes him Sheen.

Libby just rolled her eyes. "Hey guys, once we change out of these unfashionable gowns, you wanna go to the Candy Bar?" Sheen and Carl both nodded excitedly in agreement because her suggestion had to do with sweet food. Cindy, however, declined.

"Nah, Libbs, I'm just gonna go home now. You know the four of us are leaving for Austin next week and I think I want to get a head start on packing…" Cindy drifted off. Even though the university they were going to didn't start until August, the decided they should get used to the city first.

However, Libby didn't buy Cindy's excuse for a minute… and she guessed what the source of the problem was: Jimmy. _"If he really is alive like Cindy says he is… then why hasn't he come to find her yet?" _she thought. _"Does he enjoy seeing her in pain everyday? Now that doesn't sound like Jimmy at all…"_ But once again, Libby decided not to press the issue any further. "Alright, Cindy." she told her. "I'll see you tomorrow when we go dorm room shopping!". Of course she added extra emphasis and glee to "shopping" because it was, after all, Libby's favorite thing to do next to dancing.

"Alright, I'll see you then." Cindy waved to the four of them and headed in the opposite direction towards her house. While Cindy could have driven, Retroville really wasn't all that big. Besides, exercising is healthy.

Cindy continued to walk down the sidewalks, past the rows of houses and other people that were simply enjoying the day. Her day wasn't as enjoyable. Yes, she still had her friends. But it just wasn't the same. "_You were supposed to be standing next to me in that picture, Jimmy!" _she thought disappointedly and stared at the ground, her eyes empty, her mouth slightly frowning. Her face stayed that same way throughout her entire lonely walk home.

--

The next day, Libby and Cindy went to the mall to go shopping for the dorm room they decided to share together that coming year. They bought everything from big fluffy pillows to HD mini television, as well as almost entirely new wardrobes. Where'd they get the money? Their parents, of course.

"Sometimes… being an only child is great, isn't it Libby?" Cindy said as she smiled wide.

"Sure is Cindy! It sure is." The two best friends started laughing and couldn't stop for the remainder of their shopping escapade. To Libby, it had seemed like years since the two of them had laughed like that together.

--

The next week, the four finally got ready to leave home for Austin, Texas, where they would begin college in the fall. Libby and Cindy decided to ride in Libby's silver Honda Civic and Carl and Sheen rode together in Carl's van. Sure, Sheen had his license, but who would trust _him _behind the wheel?

Their parents all stood in the Vortexes' driveway as their children backed out, off to start their lives in Austin. Mrs. Vortex couldn't stop crying and Carl's parents cried between wheezes and sneezes from whatever they were allergic to at that moment in time. Both Libby's parents and Sheen's dad just waved to them, as they were obviously not as emotional as the Wheezers or Mrs. Vortex. But even Mr. and Mrs. Neutron were there to wish them good luck at college. They had always imagined Jimmy being one of them, squished in the backseat of someone's car and heading off to college as well. Since they couldn't exactly have that anymore, they decided wishing his friends good luck and saying good-bye to them was the next best thing.

And so the four of them sped off down the street in the early morning, eager to start their new lives together.

"You nervous at all, Libby?" Cindy asked her friend as they drove down the highway.

"About starting college? Nah. I think it'll be fun." Libby smiled, not taking her eyes off the road.

"I sure hope so…" Cindy sighed and stared out the car window.

--

After several hours of driving, Sheen called Cindy to tell the girls that they wanted to stop at a rest stop to buy some food. Carl claimed that if he didn't have food in the next five minutes he would pass out and Sheen would have to drive. At the mention of "Sheen would have to drive" the girls quickly agreed to pull over at the nearest rest stop.

Once Carl had eaten two hamburgers and a hot dog and Sheen had bought out almost the entire candy vending machine, they took to the road again. They only had about an hour left of driving until they finally reached their destination.

"Libby, look!" Cindy exclaimed as she read a sign on the side of the road. "It says… 'Austin - 10 miles.' I can't believe we're almost there!"

"Thank goodness!" Libby said, relieved. "I don't think I can drive much further without wanting to fall asleep!"

"Libby… its only one in the afternoon!"

"Well, you try staring at the highway for hours on end! It'll bore you right to sleep! And you sleeping almost the whole entire time didn't help me very much either!"

"Alright, alright. But you're the one who wanted to drive in the first place, remember? Besides, I'm not allowed to have one right now. My parents said I wouldn't need one on campus and that I could walk everywhere." She frowned as she remembered this. "So I guess that means you get to drive me around everywhere! Aren't you lucky?" she added sarcastically.

"Extremely," Libby said with no expression at all in her voice.

Finally, their exit came up and Libby let out a great sigh of relief.

--

Stay tuned for the next chapter! It's when the story really gets interesting :) Why? Well, let's just say they finally start their classes. And what goes along with classes? Professors, including an 18-year old one. Heehee…

Thanks for reading!

**-brigette (aka: Kaze-no-Tenshi89)**


	4. So It Begins

Thanks for the reviews again guys! Now I have to reply to what some of you said. I don't remember names, so I'll just make them general statements.

Sorry if it seemed a bit rushed in the last chapters. But… the story isn't about them _going _to college, its about them being _in _college. So I wanted to get them there as quickly as I could without anyone missing anything important

Also, I don't believe any of my chapters are _short._ They're long to me! lol Plus, after a while, I just feel like it's time for a break… maybe even a cliffhanger here or there:)

As usual, sorry if there are any mistakes!

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron. If I did, there would be a fourth season!

**Chapter 4- So It Begins**

Cindy, Libby, Sheen, and Carl spent their whole first summer away from home as busy bees. They began their summer moving their belongings into their dorm rooms and arranging their furniture and whatnot just they way the wanted. Conveniently, just as Cindy and Libby were sharing an apartment, Carl and Sheen were sharing one too. They were some of the only students allowed to settle into their dorms that early. They requested to move in early (and even pay for it) so they could get used to the city. Their parents didn't mind it either, feeling more comfortable that their children would know their way around much more.

After they were settled for the most part, the four of them toured their new city, getting used to where everything was. Carl and Sheen visited as many restaurants as possible to decide which were hot and which were not (while buying almost everything off the menu of course!). Cindy and Libby went to the various malls and shopping centers in the area to find the best clothing stores. Then, the four of them went sightseeing, checking out all of the historic sites and points of interest. While Cindy found all of that learning fascinating and interesting, the other three just found it boring. So Cindy agreed to visit the rest of the museums and historic sites by herself later on.

By then, the start of their new school year was only a few days away. So they spent the rest of the time gathering up all of their necessary school supplies and books, as well as checking out where each of their classes were located on campus.

Cindy decided to major in Chemistry to become a chemist, Libby decided on Fashion to become a famous fashion designer and/or model, Sheen decided to major in Computer Animation and Graphic Design to become a cartoon animator, and Carl decided to major Zoology to know more about llamas and hopefully become a llama breeder.

Because each of their majors were very different from each other, they weren't in very many classes together. However, Cindy and Carl were in an advanced Biology class together and Sheen and Libby were in a design class together. So the four of them decided to hang out almost everyday after classes if they were able to.

--

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP SMACK beep…….blip

Cindy slowly sat up from her bed and rubbed her eyes, trying to wake herself up. Her alarm clock read "8:00 AM".

"Why wasn't I as smart as Libby when it came to scheduling classes?" She said quietly to herself as she jealously glanced over to her sleeping friend in a bed on the opposite side of the room. "While my first class starts at 9:10, hers doesn't start until 11:00! I'll have to remember that when I schedule classes for next semester…" She mumbled and finally got up from her bed, not bothering to make it, then headed for the bathroom.

After she took a quick shower and brushed her teeth, she headed over to her armoire to find an outfit to wear for her first day of classes.

"_Should I wear a skimpy pink shirt with a skirt to attract guys?"_ She thought and frowned in disgust. _"Definitely not."_ She fished around in her armoire some more. _"How about… shorts and a t-shirt? Nah…. I don't want people to think I'm athletic when I don't do karate anymore the only sport I _can_ do is shop!"_ So she returned to trying to find something again. Finally, she found something. _"Aha! Perfect."_ She pulled out a regular pair of blue jeans and a green tank top, which she layered on top of a white tank top. _"If first impressions are everything, I don't want to give off the wrong one. I'm not a slut and I'm not very athletic anymore. I'm just a regular, nothing-special girl in blue jeans."_

She headed back into the private bathroom she and Libby shared with a sigh and quickly changed into her clothes. She then brushed her hair, deciding to let it down that day. When she was done, she took a quick glance at her watch that read "8:31." _"Good, I still have some time to put on some make-up and jewelry. I don't want to look too boring…" _She thought as she began to apply her green eye shadow to match her eyes and shirt. She then applied her eyeliner and mascara. After finishing her make-up she ran back to her dresser to grab her green star earrings and something else… a necklace.

She wore this necklace every single day since that fateful day on Mars. Care to guess what was on this oh-so-special necklace? It was a pearl. But it wasn't just any ordinary pearl. It was the one Jimmy gave her when they were stranded on that island for three days. The necklace was the only thing she owned that really reminded her of him, except, of course, Goddard.

"Oh my gosh! Goddard!" she said out loud, rather loudly, too. She frantically searched around her room for the mechanical dog. "Come here, boy!" she called out, hoping she wouldn't wake up Libby in the process. A few seconds later, Goddard came slinking into the room looking rather guilty. "What'd you do now…" Cindy headed in the direction Goddard came from and saw that the maintenance room door was slightly ajar down the hallway. She noticed a small trail of nuts and bolts leading out of the room and directly into her room.

"Bad boy, Goddard!" Cindy scolded him and ran over to clean up the mess he made. "Your lucky you aren't a real dog. Otherwise, you wouldn't even be allowed to live here!" Their dorm building didn't exactly allow pets, but since Goddard wasn't exactly "alive" Cindy was allowed to keep him. "Your also lucky that I haven't just kicked you out myself!" Well, she never really wanted to ever kick Goddard out. She loved that dog to death. He reminded her so much of Jimmy. And plus, she was the only other person on the planet who knew how to take care of him properly.

"Great… it's already 8:55! I'm going to have to eat on the run!" She ran over to one of her crates of snacks and pulled out a box of pop tarts, grabbed one, and tossed the box quickly back into the crate. "Let's go, Goddard! I can't possibly walk to my class now without being late!" She ran over to her couch near the front door, grabbed her bag, and headed out.

Once both of them were outside of the dorm building, Cindy turned down to the slumped-over Goddard, now feeling a sudden twang of guilt. "Aw, I'm sorry Goddard for yelling at you so much this morning… I guess I'm just nervous, that's all. Well, let's go shall we?" Cindy smiled excitedly.

"Bark bark!" Goddard happily replied and begin to fly into the air. Cindy grabbed onto him tightly and took off to the sky. Even though she was significantly larger and weighed more than she did in 5th grade, Goddard was still able to carry her through the air with ease.

"_Good boy, Goddard. This sure beats walking or taking the bus!" _she thought happily as she flew of the university campus.

--

Goddard set her down in front of the main Department of Sciences building for her first class, Astronomy.

"Thanks, boy." Cindy bent down and pet him. Surprisingly, no one seemed to have noticed her flight over campus. At least, no one showed they noticed. However, people sure noticed a blonde walking through the hall with a mechanical dog at her side. Some people stopped her in the hallway to ask where she got it, if it talked, and all sorts of other questions. But Cindy simply smiled, said she was sorry, and that she had to hurry to her class. She figured no one would really _mind_ Goddard being in class with her, though. He wasn't actually alive for one thing. He was also programmed to be quiet when told to, so she thought he wouldn't really be a problem.

"Room 1330… 1330…" Cindy said to herself as she walked down the hall, glancing at the room numbers posted above the doors. "1332… 1331… ah! 1330!" She reached for the doorknob and quickly pulled the door open, glancing around the classroom. It was only 9:05, so the classroom wasn't filled yet. So she glanced up to see what her teacher was like, but he had his back turned to her, facing the chalkboard. Her schedule said his name was J. Smith. _"How original!" _she laughed to herself. _"I bet his name is John. John Smith. Hahahaha… I'd change my name if I were him!" _She continued to laugh to herself until she was interrupted by the very person she was laughing at.

"Excuse me, but you can take your seat now. Class is about to begin." It took Cindy a few seconds to realize that he said something to her and she immediately felt embarrassed for spacing out like that. She didn't even look at him, but rather headed for a seat near the window. _"I hope he doesn't think I was staring at him or something! That would be SO embarrassing! Then again, how could I be staring at him… I only saw his back!" _She even forgot Goddard was with her, but he just sat under her desk, staying clear of her feet.

"Alright class, now that everyone is here, I think I can begin. First of all, I'd like to say welcome to Astronomy! I'm your professor James Smith. This is my first year of teaching at this university, so I'm rather new at this." Cindy rolled her eyes as she continued to stare out the window. _"Well this should be interesting… not! Boorriinngggg!"_ She didn't exactly want to take Astronomy, but she figured taking as many science classes that she could would help. Plus, once you got into the Astrophysics part of Astronomy, it actually had to do a lot with chemistry.

One of the other students in the class that sat in the front row just blurted out to the professor, "Jeez, how old ARE you? You look like your only 18!"

"Well…" Professor Smith began, "that'd probably be because I AM only 18." This got Cindy's attention, so she decided that looking out the window while also paying attention might actually be interesting. Professor Smith noticed the astonished looks on his students' faces and laughed. "You see, I went to college when I was fourteen because I'm actually a certified genius."

Now Cindy decided to turn away from the bug she was watching crawl up the window to look at her professor. _"He went to college when he was only fourteen? He's a certified genius? Great… more things to remind me of Jimmy._" She then took a closer look at her professor. He had short brown hair and amazing… blue eyes. Something in Cindy clicked. Her mind did a rewind to Professor Smith's introduction. _"His name is James… he's only 18…he has brown hair and blue eyes… he's a genius… and he obviously loves science because he's teaching an Astronomy course…OH MY GOD!"_

Cindy sprung up from her seat, not even thinking about the looks her classmates, or her professor for that matter, were giving her. "J-JIMMY?"

--

Mwahahahahaha. I'm so evil. Stay tuned!

Thanks for reading!

**-brigette (aka: Kaze-no-Tenshi89)**


	5. What Are the Odds?

Sorry for ending it with a little cliffhanger there. I just couldn't help it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron. If I did, there would be a fourth season!

**Chapter 5- What Are the Odds?**

"J-JIMMY?" Cindy couldn't believe it. He was standing there RIGHT in front of her! Her mind raced. She couldn't even form a complete sentence in her own mind.

"Excuse me, Miss…" Professor Smith stopped, waiting for her to answer with a name. But she never did, so he decided to continue. "I'd prefer it if you called me 'Professor Smith'. No one's called me Jimmy since I was fourteen, and I don't plan on being close enough to any of my students for them to call me that." He stared at her. She was completely out of breath and looked like a nervous wreck. Why she was nervous, though, he had no idea. "Are you alright?" He asked, a little concerned about her health at the moment.

"Vortex…" she said quietly, now staring down at her desk. Then she looked back up to him, hopefully. "It's _Cindy Vortex_." She said her name a little slower, trying to jog his memory. "Don't you remember me?" Tears were now beginning to well up in her eyes. She wasn't even aware that every single person in the classroom was staring at her.

Professor Smith just stared at her, drawing a blank. "I'm sorry… I don't believe we've met before." Cindy sat down slowly in her chair, still staring at her professor with watery eyes. "Y-you must be confusing me with someone else…" he said carefully, not wanting to be the reason her tears came out in full force, even if he had no clue as to why she was upset.

"I..." she began, "I guess… I am. I'm s-sorry." Now Cindy didn't know what to think. _"What is going on? This HAS to be Jimmy! Why doesn't he know who I am?" _Nothing made sense to her. _"Can there possibly be two people in this world who are almost exactly the same? What are the odds?" _She almost paused to let the Jimmy she used to know interrupt her, explaining that the odds were about 2,973,476 to 1, or something crazy like that.

Cindy was interrupted from her thoughts when Professor Smith spoke again. "Now class, please turn to page 4 in your textbooks. The first chapter we will be studying is about the birth and death of stars." He didn't forget about Cindy, though. She was still a little shaken up and Professor Smith clearly noticed this. However, he really had no idea what he should do. So he did the only thing he could think of. "Miss Vortex? If you want, you may be excused to the bathroom if you like."

Cindy continued staring at her desk. "No… it's fine… I'll be alright…" she said quietly.

"Alright, but if you feel like you need to be excused at anytime, it won't be a problem."

She just sighed. He certainly seemed like the old Jimmy…always looking out for her. However, he clearly had no memory of her. _"Maybe I am just mixing him up with someone else. Have I been hoping to see Jimmy for so long that I believe the first person I come across that remotely seems like him IS him? Oh… I don't know what to do..."_

--

The astronomy class only lasted 50 minutes, so at 10:00, Professor Smith dismissed them. "For homework tonight, class, please read pages 14-21 about nebulae. We'll be discussing them in class tomorrow."

Cindy slowly packed up her things. She wasn't in much of a hurry. After all, her next class, Advanced Biology, wasn't until 1:00. It was then, though, that she remembered Goddard was with her. "Come on, boy, let's go get some lunch back at our room. I picked up some macaroni and cheese at the store yesterday, along with some nice lug nuts for you!" she said down to him with a smile.

When she was just about to open up the classroom door… "Excuse me, Miss Vortex?" It was Professor Smith. Cindy simply turned around to face him at his desk. "Where… did you get that dog?" So he noticed her talking to a mechanical dog, eh? _"I guess it would be a little hard not to. We're the only ones left in the classroom."_

Deciding she didn't want to turn this into a very long conversation, she simply replied, "a friend gave him to me a long time ago."

Professor Smith, however, still seemed intrigued by the mechanical canine. "You see, I was wondering because… I actually built one just like that. Several years ago though… when I was about 13."

"_Oh my god… he has one, too? Maybe it really is… STOP CINDY! It's probably a common thing for geniuses to do… to make mechanical dogs… that all look… the same." _Even if it did seem a bit of a strange coincidence to her, she pushed the thoughts from her mind as Professor Smith continued.

"She's getting on in age though, even if she is only 5. How old did you say your dog was, if you don't mind my asking of course."

"Around… 8 years old." Cindy had to think about that for a minute. She couldn't exactly remember when Jimmy had invented him, so she had to estimate.

"Wow! You must take great care of… him?" Professor Smith couldn't remember if she ever mentioned if it was a boy or a girl.

"Yes. His name is Goddard, after the early 20th century physicist." She then realized how stupid she must seem… _"Of course he knows who Robert Hutchings Goddard is! He's a scientist!"_

"Um… I mean, well, of course you know who Goddard is…" She said nervously. Professor Smith, however, just laughed.

"It's alright. I'm actually quite surprised a girl like you actually knows who he is! Most I talk to only care about which celebrities are dating each other or when the latest fashions will be released to the public!" He chuckled to himself.

"Y-yeah. Thanks… I guess." She blushed slightly as she spoke. "Well, I have to get going. I barely ate anything for breakfast this morning. I'll see you in class tomorrow, Professor." She then turned back to the door and opened it. "Wait, Professor?"

Professor Smith looked up from the papers he was gathering together. "Yes, Miss Vortex?"

"This is kind of a silly question but, what's your dog's name?" She wasn't sure why she wanted to know the answer to this question. But somehow, it interested her.

"I named her Marie, after Madame Marie Curie." Cindy smiled. _"I should have known." _She quietly laughed to herself as she headed out into the hallway and through the front doors.

"Let's go back to the dorm, Goddard! Even if it is only 10:00, I'm starving!"

"Bark, bark!" Goddard replied. And once again, they took off to the sky. This time, however, almost the whole entire campus noticed a girl flying with her mechanical canine through the air.

--

Sorry… it was kind of short this time! Stay tuned, though! There's still much, much, much more to come!

Thanks for reading!

**-brigette (aka: Kaze-no-Tenshi89)**


	6. Uncertainty

Yay, once again, thanks for the reviews! I'm so glad you guys are _that _interested in my story! And it's my first one! Now I feel generous… hugs for all!

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron. If I did, there would be a fourth season!

**Chapter 6- Uncertainty**

"Oh my god, Libby!" Cindy burst through the front door of their dorm room. Libby was sitting at the tiny kitchen table eating her late breakfast of Frosted Cheerios. Cindy immediately turned pale and froze in the doorway.

"Girl, what happened? You look like you've seen a ghost or something!" Libby got up and ran over to her best friend, hugging her tightly. Cindy stood there, quietly shaking, as her friend hugged her. "Oh my god, are you alright?" Libby was getting extremely worried now.

"It's…" Cindy took a breath, "Jimmy."

Libby pulled away from the hug and looked into her best friend's eyes. "You haven't been thinking about him again, have you?"

Cindy stared at the ground as she stepped away from her friend, her eyes wide. "No… no… that's not it at all. I mean…" she looked back up to her friend, "of course I've been thinking about him. But that's… not…" Cindy sighed. "Can we sit down and talk?"

"Of course." Libby replied. They headed over to the little lounging area, which consisted of a tiny couch and some chairs, and sat down in opposite armchairs.

Cindy began playing with a string hanging off of one of the armrests as she spoke. "I think… he's alive."

Libby gave her a skeptical look. "Cindy… you've been saying that for seven years! What makes this time any different?"

Cindy looked back up to her friend, her face holding only seriousness and belief. "Because I saw him."

--

Cindy spent the next 20 minutes telling Libby about her strange day so far. It was 10:30 by the time Cindy was finished, so she offered to walk Libby (along with Goddard) to the design class she had with Sheen. Once outside, the two best friends decided to continue their conversation, nonetheless.

"So you really think its him?" Libby asked, still a little uncertain about him.

"I don't know… I mean…he looks like him, acts like him, has the same intelligence, is the same age…"

"But what if it's all just a strange coincidence?" Cindy already thought a lot about that. "I just don't want you to get your hopes up only to have them crushed again when he doesn't turn out to be Jimmy." Libby remembered how much pain Cindy went through after the incident on Mars. "You've been through too much already."

"I know…" Cindy sighed, which she seemed to do a lot lately.

"Well, this is where I take my leave. The class lasts about 2 hours long, so I'll see you after your Advanced Bio class is over." Cindy just gave her a half-hearted smile.

It was now Libby's turn to sigh. "Listen, I know we were all planning on going out tonight… but… I don't know if it would help very much. I think you should go to a club or something, meet some new people. Get your mind off Jimmy. Maybe you'll even meet a really nice guy."

"I don't know…" Cindy replied, a little unsure about going somewhere like a club by herself. "I think it's unsafe if I went by myself. Can't you and Sheen come along? I know Carl isn't much of a dance person…"

"Alright… but you have to promise you'll be willing to meet some new people! _Especially _guys!" Libby added with a smile. "Well, I gotta go now, I'll see you later!" She turned and walked through the front doors of a rather large building.

"_Alright… I guess," _Cindy thought. "Oh, what am I going to do, Goddard?" Goddard looked up at her and whined sympathetically.

--

After Cindy and Goddard returned to the dorm room, Cindy microwaved herself some macaroni and cheese and gave Goddard some nice lug nuts.

"Man… I was starving! Maybe I should wake up earlier from now on, huh, boy?" She lovingly pet Goddard as he sat next to her on the tiny couch while she watched TV.

"Bark, bark!" he happily replied.

So Cindy watched TV until about 12:45 when it was time for her to go to her biology class. She was lucky, though. She only had two classes on Mondays. However, the rest of her week was pretty much swamped.

"Wanna give me a ride again, Goddard?" She asked him, almost pleadingly. "If you don't, I'll be late! You wouldn't want it to be all your fault, would you?" She tried to make him feel guilty. However, this dog wasn't exactly stupid.

Goddard's screen popped up and read, "How would you being lazy be my fault?" Cindy rolled her eyes.

"Why did you have to be such a smart dog…" Goddard happily barked. "Aw, please?" Cindy returned to her begging. "I'll let you sleep on my bed with me tonight! And tomorrow, you can have extra lug nuts!" She offered him everything she could think of. Finally, Goddard gave in.

His screen read, "Fine… but I'm only doing it for the lug nuts." Cindy smiled and hugged the mechanical canine.

"Thank you!"

Once again, Cindy grabbed her bag and headed out the door and into the sky, off to her biology class.

--

Cindy decided her Advanced Biology teacher, Professor (Janet) Oglemire, who was around 60 years old and had an annoying, screechy voice, was a lot more boring than Professor Smith, even though she hadn't paid much attention to most of his class. Because Carl was in the class with her, she decided to pass notes to him throughout the class. He sat right next to her, after all. She told him all about her Astronomy professor, and of course, he reacted the same way Libby did.

On one note, he scribbled down, "Are you sure it's him?"

Cindy just wrote back, "I don't know."

So that's pretty much how Cindy spent her biology class. But she did take down notes occasionally. It was the first day, though, so they didn't learn a whole lot. It was mostly review from what they had learned in high school.

Like Libby and Sheen's design class, the biology class lasted 2 hours. At 3:00, class was finally over. And, like last time, Goddard went the whole class without being noticed, until the very end. Professor Oglemire just stared at him, not saying a word. Fearing she might be angry with her for bringing a mechanical dog to class, Cindy and Carl decided to quickly head out of the classroom together.

"Hey Carl, do you mind if Sheen, Libby, and I go to a club later tonight? We know you don't like dancing… so we figured you wouldn't want to go…" Cindy asked him as the walked through the campus. Their dorm buildings were relatively close together, so they decided to walk together for most of the way.

"Oh, yeah… that's fine with me. I have a lot of homework for my zoology class I'm taking anyway, so I wouldn't be able to come even if I did like to dance!"

"But… it's the first day of classes! You already have a lot of homework?" Cindy found that a little unfair. However, it was college. Things were a little different.

"Yeah… it's actually a pretty tough class." Carl sweat-dropped a little, anime-style. "I certainly didn't think becoming a llama breeder would be _this _hard!"

Cindy, however, smiled. "Oh well, you'll be glad you took it later on, though." She gave Carl a friendly pat on the back.

"I hope so! Or I'll blame you for all of my misery and woe!" Carl added teasingly. "Well, I'll see you later, Cindy. Our dorm is over there in that direction. Bye!" He waved and headed off in the direction he mentioned.

"Alright! Bye!" Cindy waved back.

--

Cindy was back in her dorm room by 3:20. When she got there, she found Libby in the same position she had been, on the couch in front of the TV, before she left for biology.

"Hey, Libbs. Having fun?" Cindy said sarcastically.

"Hell, yes. Who doesn't enjoy being bored to death watching crappy network television?" Libby replied with an equaling sarcastic tone, however, with less enthusiasm.

"Do you have anymore classes today?"

"Yeah… Calculus at 4:30." She said unenthusiastically. Libby absolutely hated math. "I tried convincing my counselor that I didn't need to take math if I was going into fashion, but noooooooo! She said it was required!" Libby's anger began to arise. "Man, I'd like to show that counselor what I really think of her!" By now, Libby was on her feet, looking like she was about to punch something. That's how much she hated math.

"Well we all have to take it, Libbs. Of course I do, though, going into Chemistry and all…" This, however, wasn't really helping. Libby still looked angry. "OK… Libbs? Calm down. Its just a math class!"

"Whatever… I'm going to take a quick nap before I go. Maybe, if I'm lucky, I'll be especially cranky by the time I get to class! Or better… still asleep!" She angrily hopped onto her bed, and tried to get some shut-eye.

"Aie… What a mood swing…" Cindy plopped down in front of the TV once again. _"This day just keeps getting more interesting as it goes on…"_

--

Well, at 4:00 Libby went to Calculus in a rather huffy mood and came back at around 5:45. At 6:30, Sheen, Libby, and Cindy decided to grab some dinner down at a local restaurant called "New Era" before they went they went to any clubs. The food at the restaurant turned out to be mainly Serbian, so the three of them each got Paprikash, something only Cindy had tried before. The other two were a little apprehensive at first to try this "strange, new, but possibly tasty" food. Sheen was mostly a Mexican-food type of guy and Libby liked the more sophisticated Italian food. So Cindy appeared to be the most open-minded of the three there. Well, food-wise that was.

They finally finished their dinner at around 8:00, just when the local clubs began to open. Since they had already explored the town earlier during the summer, they knew where each one was. So the finally settled on the 90s Dance Club, but the line for the club was actually pretty long. It was one of the more popular spots to hang out, especially for their age group because they had grown up listening to 90s music. When they finally got up to the front door, Sheen and Libby showed their IDs and were allowed in. Cindy, however, hesitated a bit.

"I don't know about this guys… I don't know if I feel up to dancing right now…"

"Come on, girl! You promised!"

"Since when does a promise mean anything?" Cindy shot back. Libby immediately figured that was probably the wrong thing to say to her when she was in that emotional state.

"Come on, Cindy. We'll have a great time! You're holding up the line, anyway!"

"… Alright…" Cindy reluctantly handed the man sitting in front of the door her ID and was allowed to pass.

Right when Cindy entered the club, with its nostalgic 90s dance music playing loudly in the background, a strange emotion overcame her. _"Why does it feel like I should be anywhere but here right now?" _It was then that she knew something was going to happen that night. What it was however, she had no idea.

--

Don't worry… its nothing bad! No one's going to kidnap or rape her or anything like that! I'm not interested in writing something like that anyway… gross…

Like I've said before, stay tuned because there's still so much more to come!

Thanks for reading!

**-brigette (aka: Kaze-no-Tenshi89)**


	7. An Unexpected Meeting

In case you are confused at all, anytime speech is in italics it's Cindy thinking, "_Like this!" _Otherwise, it's being said out loud.

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron. If I did, there would be a fourth season!

**Chapter 7- An Unexpected Meeting**

Cindy slowly walked into the club, each step intensifying the strange feeling inside of her. She couldn't tell whether the feeling was ominous or if it was good, but she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to find out. Sheen and Libby had already made their way to the dance floor, dancing to the upbeat dance song, "Beautiful Life" by Ace of Base. Cindy, however, decided not to dance at the moment. So instead, she headed to the bar/restaurant, which was in the upstairs part of the club, for a something to drink.

She walked up to the counter and asked for a simple glass of water. The bartender handed it to her and told her it was free. Cindy eyed the man a little curiously, hoping he hadn't slipped something in there. The bartender must have noticed her discomfort and handed her a bottle of water, still free of charge. Slightly embarrassed, she thanked him and headed for a small, empty table that overlooked the dance floor. Cindy could see Sheen and Libby dancing and smiled. They danced so well together. Well, that is, after Jimmy fixed the dance machine for Sheen. Libby, of course, was a natural at dancing.

It was then that Cindy realized just how alone she was. Everyone in the club was dancing, talking, eating, or drinking with someone else. She glanced around the tiny bar/restaurant. _"Can I please not be the only one who's alone tonight?" _Was that her strange feeling? That she was going to have a miserable time alone? _"I hope to God not." _And almost as if her wish had been answered, she saw someone else who was just as alone as she was. She couldn't exactly make out what he looked like, so she decided to be brave and introduce herself. She promised Libby, after all.

He was seated only a few tables away from her, with his back turned to her. The lights in the club were always flashing and changing colors, so she couldn't even tell what the color of his hair was. However, she could see that he was eating a hamburger and fries... so she almost had second thoughts. _"What am I doing? What if he thinks I'm just annoying him while he's eating? That'd be way too embarrassing…" _Nevertheless, she found the courage inside of her and approached him.

"Um… excuse me… hi…" she tapped him on the shoulder. "You seemed rather lonely so I was wondering…" By then he had turned around to face her. "Oh my god…" She flushed a bright crimson red. "Now this is really embarrassing…" _"What is HE doing here!"_ Of course, it was Professor Smith.

As Cindy stood there, blushing, Professor Smith just smiled at her. "It's quite alright… I guess I do blend in with the crowd, being the same age and all." Cindy almost melted into the floor when he smiled. _"What's happening to me… no one else can possibly make me feel that way except… STOP IT CINDY! You already decided not to think about Jimmy tonight!"_ She stood in front of him as an awkward silence hung over them. Professor Smith must have noticed the awkward silence as well.

"Would you like to sit down, Miss Vortex? Or is it alright if I call you Cindy?" he gestured to the seat across from him.

"It's fine…you can call me Cindy." She blushed again, but she figured (and hoped) that he probably didn't notice it. Every other second her skin was a different color anyway due to the colorful lights overhead. She sat down in the chair across from him and folded her hands in her lap nervously.

"And if you like, for the time being, you can call me James. I think calling me "professor" might make you feel a little uncomfortable." _"So he can tell how nervous I am_?" "I'm guessing you didn't expect to see your Astronomy professor in a club, did you?" He laughed a little at that. Cindy just gave a small smile.

"No… I didn't... um… James." She felt a little weird calling him by his first name. He was her professor for one. However, she couldn't help but get lost in his bright blue eyes.

"Ahem… well…" Professor Smith said awkwardly. _"Damn it, I was staring at him, wasn't I?" _Cindy mentally slapped herself.

"Um… so… Prof– I mean… _James_… are you here all by yourself?" Cindy bravely asked.

"Yes, actually. I come here a lot. Well, not really for the dancing. I'm not much of a dancer. I mostly come here for the food." He laughed again. "They have great burgers!"

"Oh… well… that's good to know. I'll have to try them sometime, then."

"Are you here by yourself, Cindy?" Professor Smith asked as he ate some of his fries.

"No… well, yes… I mean…" Cindy laughed at how stupid she must have sounded. "I'm here with my two best friends. But they're dating so… I'm pretty much here by myself." She finished with a sigh.

"Ah, I know what you mean. I've been there before." Another awkward silence came over them. Professor Smith was the first to speak again. "This probably seems a little awkward for you… I mean, I am your professor after all!" He laughed once again.

"Oh, no! It's fine… I mean, if it's alright with you. I'm just your student." Cindy felt almost a little awkward as she said that. _"It's not like were on a date or anything!"_

"Yeah, we're only doing harmless chit-chat. I don't see anything wrong with that." He smiled once again. Cindy felt almost a little disappointed when he said that. _"Get a grip, girl! You ARE only doing harmless chit-chat!" _Just then, a familiar voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Hey, girl!" It was Libby. _"Perfect timing."_

"Hey, Libbs." Cindy tried her best to hide the fact that Libby had made a wrong move by interrupting. "Are you two done dancing?"

"Yeah, I'm a little tired." She laughed a little. "Sheen was getting hungry again, anyway, so we decided to grab a bite to eat up here." It was then that Libby noticed that Cindy wasn't exactly alone. "Cindy… so who's your friend?" Libby smiled to her, suggesting she had found a guy.

"Oh, he's… I mean! No! Um…." Cindy flushed bright crimson again. She noticed Professor Smith flush a little at that as well. "Libby… I'd like you to meet my Astronomy professor… Professor Smith…. er… well… James."

"Oh… OH!" Libby realized just what Cindy had said. She blushed a little at the embarrassing position she had brought herself into. "I'm sorry… I just assumed…" She stopped herself. "Hi. I'm Libby. Libby Folfax." _"So this is the professor Cindy believes to be Jimmy?" _Libby thought. _"He does kind of look like him… though his head is actually proportional to his body." _She almost laughed to herself at that.

"Um… this is my boyfriend, and one of Cindy's friends, Sheen." Libby nudged Sheen in the ribs, rather hard. "That's him!" she whispered to Sheen rather hoarsely. At that, Sheen decided to introduce himself personally. It might be his best friend, after all.

"Like she said, I'm Sheen Estevez." He held out his hand for the professor to shake. "It's nice to meet you, Professor!" Sheen said enthusiastically as they shook hands.

"You can call me James if you like. I don't really like being called "professor" very much, especially off campus. I'm rather new so I still have to get used to it." Professor Smith glanced down at his watch. "Oh, wow, I have to get going! It was nice meeting you all!" He got up from his chair and looked over to Cindy, who was still sitting down. "It was nice talking to you, Cindy. Maybe we can talk again sometime." He smiled at her, causing her to almost melt right into the table.

"Y-yeah." Cindy stammered nervously.

"Well, I'll see you in class tomorrow. Bye!" He waved to her and headed down the stairs that led up to the bar/restaurant.

"Bye…" she said in a daze, staring at him as he left.

Libby stood there, staring at Cindy. "Girl, what were you thinking!" Cindy snapped out of her daze.

"W-what do you mean?" Cindy asked, unsure of what her friend meant.

"I told you to meet a nice guy to get your mind of Jimmy! And what'd you do? You went and flirted with your Astronomy professor!" Libby accusingly said to her.

"We weren't flirting! We were just talking! Actually, we were barely even talking!" Cindy defended herself. "Plus… do you see any other lonely guys here? Hmm?" Libby looked around and ended up not replying to her question. "Exactly! No one's as stupid as me to come to a club by themselves. At least not tonight, anyway! Except maybe my professor who only came here for the food!" By now Cindy was on her feet.

"Let's just go…" Libby said as she grabbed Sheen's arm and turned towards the stairs.

"Wait, Libbs… I thought we were getting something to eat?" Sheen asked without thinking.

"Oh, just shut up!" He decided that not saying anything else would probably be a good idea.

--

No one said a word the whole drive back to the campus until Libby dropped Sheen off at his dorm.

"I'll call you later, okay?" Libby said to Sheen as he got out of the backseat of car.

"Alright…" he said, a little unsure of what she might do next.

"Stop acting so scared already! I'm not mad at _you_." Cindy noticed she added emphasis to "you", most likely meaning she was upset at someone else. Who was that person? Cindy of course. "So, I'll talk to you later," Libby continued. "Bye." After that, Libby continued driving to their dorm, once again, not talking. They even managed to make it all the way up to their dorm room until Cindy finally couldn't stand it anymore.

"Okay, what the hell is wrong with you?" Cindy threw her stuff on her bed rather angrily.

"What's wrong with ME? What about what's wrong with you?" Libby retorted.

"Why are you so mad at me for talking to my professor at a club? We weren't doing anything!"

"First of all, I wanted you to meet a nice guy to get your mind off Jimmy. This professor of yours only makes you think of him more! Second, he's a professor. Do I have to spell it out for you?" Libby asked, annoyed.

"What?" was all Cindy could say.

"Hello! Cindy! Do you realize that even if this professor of yours is Jimmy, nothing could ever happen between you two?"

"What do you mean by that?" Cindy was astonished at what Libby had said.

"Oh, let's see… for the one millionth time, he's your professor! You can't date him! Plus, what are you gonna do? Make him fall in love with you again? He obviously doesn't remember you even if it really is Jimmy!"

Cindy's heart broke at her words. She hadn't really thought about that. _"Even if he is Jimmy… it'd never be… Libby's right… she's right..." _Cindy sat down on her bed as tears began to fall freely down her face. "Y-you're right, Libbs…" She said in-between sobs. "You're right…"

Libby's anger with her best friend vanished. "Cindy…" she said sympathetically as she sat down next to her friend and hugged her.

--

What's Cindy going to do? Even if it is Jimmy, is there really no possible way for them to be together again?

Wow... Libby's such a protective friend, isn't she?

Aww… I wrote this whole chapter when I was in one of my sad moods… listening to sappy/sad love songs. Now I'm even more sad… darn it!

Well, as you can see, this story is far from over. Stay tuned!

Thanks for reading!

**-brigette (aka: Kaze-no-Tenshi89)**


	8. Lost Hope

Thanks once again for the reviews! If you didn't already guess, I'm planning on this being a rather long story! lol

However… I was still in one of my rather sad moods when I wrote this chapter. You'll probably notice that reflected in the beginning of the chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron. If I did, there would be a fourth season!

**Chapter 8- Lost Hope**

Cindy awoke the following day to the beeping of her alarm. She slowly opened here eyes to see the room filled with golden sunlight. Of all the days to awaken to beauty, hope, and happiness, it had to be that one. Inside, Cindy couldn't even find a single ray of hope or happiness inside of her. She had cried herself to sleep that night, dreaming of emptiness. And now she had to wake up to go see the very person who caused all of her pain? She would have liked nothing better than to crawl back under her sheets and sleep longer.

After getting ready and eating an adequate breakfast of the ever-healthy Frosted Cheerios, Cindy grabbed her backpack and headed out the door. However, she didn't completely make it out until a certain mechanical dog whined to her.

"Aw, Goddard, I'm sorry, but I'd rather go to class by myself today." She then realized how rare this situation was and probably would be. "And since when do you _want _to take me to class, anyway?"

Goddard whined and his monitor popped up. "Since you've started acting so sad and depressed. I'm actually getting worried about you."

"Well, I don't want your sympathy, Goddard, but thanks anyway. I'll be fine. I'm actually acting quite stupid about this I guess." She stared at her dog a little bit. "Hey, I might have a little time when we get back. Why don't we both go for a walk in the park? I think we'd both like that!" she suggested.

"Bark, bark!" Goddard replied happily.

"Then it's settled. Maybe by then I'll feel a little better." She tried her best to give him a smile and headed out the door.

--

Because it was still early in the morning, the sun was still in the east, causing the dew on the grass and trees to glimmer with astonishing beauty. Everywhere, birds were singing enchanting melodies and squirrels chased each other across the lawn.

"_How can there be so much hope in the world and I receive none of it?"_ Cindy had reached the front doors to the Department of Science main building. Next to the doors, there was a small garden with many different types of flowers and plants. Cindy noticed two butterflies fluttering around amongst those flowers together, enjoying one another's company. _"If the world doesn't see me fit enough to give me some of its own hope and happiness, I'm just going to have to find it myself." _Cindy regained some of her lost confidence and opened the front doors to the building, heading off towards her Astronomy class.

--

The classroom was still empty when she got there, for she was about 20 minutes early. No one in her class liked to get there until five minutes or less before class started. Well, scratch that. No one else was in the room except one other person. Professor Smith was there as well, preparing for class.

"Oh, hello, Cindy!" Professor Smith said cheerily, causing Cindy to wince slightly at how happy he seemed. He looked down to the floor, expecting a certain mechanical canine to be walking beside her. "Where's Goddard today?"

"Hello, professor." Cindy replied with almost no expression in her voice. "I guess I just didn't feel like bringing him to class with me today." She headed to her seat near the window and sat down.

"Well, in any case, you're here rather early today. Is there any reason? Do you need help on anything or have any questions about the reading?" Professor Smith asked her.

"No…" Cindy stared out the window sighed. "Nothing you could help me with…" she said quietly, not meaning for him to hear. Professor Smith raised his eyebrows as he noticed the depressing look on her face.

"Try me."

Cindy was surprised at what he said and turned to face him. "W-what?"

Professor Smith walked over to the first desk in her row, two desks ahead of hers. He turned around in the seat to face her. "Well, it seems that every time I see you, something always seems to be wrong. I'd like to help you out. I don't like seeing sad faces all around me and I'm sure you don't either." He smiled at her, trying to cheer her up. _"What should I do? I can't possibly tell him who I think he is!" _Cindy wasn't entirely sure how to approach this situation.

"I know you'd like to help me, professor, but…"

"But what? I'm too old to understand?" he said lightheartedly. "We're the same age, Miss Vortex. I'm sure I could understand what your going through a lot more than any other professor or even some students could!" He laughed a little as he said that. "Consider me at the moment to be one of your best friends and not your professor. Maybe that will help a little."

"Alright…" Cindy sat up a little straighter and braced herself. "Well, you see… I had a friend a long time ago." She decided not to tell him directly what she was thinking. "Well, he was more than my friend actually… I loved him." At that, she sighed a little. "Everyone believed he died protecting me… except for me that is. I believed he was still alive somewhere because he promised he would see me again…"

"But you never saw him again?" Professor Smith interrupted, trying to help.

"Well… I'm not sure. Yesterday was the first day of classes, as you know. And… I think…. I think I might have found him again."

Professor Smith was deeply interested in her story. "So you should be happy!" he said excitedly. "What's with the long face then?" he asked, a little confused.

"The thing is… even if it is him… which I'm almost positive it is… he clearly doesn't remember me." Cindy was now looking Professor Smith directly in the eye, almost as if she were trying to send him the message that she was talking about him.

"Oh, I see… I'm sorry about that." At that moment, a herd of students came flowing into the classroom, chattering and talking noisily. Cindy broke eye contact with her professor and resumed looking out the window. Professor Smith got up from the desk he was sitting in and headed to the front of the classroom to begin class.

"Now that we're all here, I'd like to begin class! Last night you should have read pages 14-21 in your textbook about nebulae. So we'll begin class with our discussion on the H II regions of nebulae and why they are the birthplace of stars."

--

For Cindy, the class seemed to drag on forever. She wanted nothing more than to go back to her dorm and take a nap. The confidence she had entered the classroom with had begun to fade by then. Professor Smith didn't seem to have gotten her message… and there was no way she was going to tell him who she thought he was just then. He might have thought she was crazy or something.

Finally, though, the class had ended and Professor Smith had once again given them a reading assignment. As Professor Smith spoke, he looked over to where Cindy sat, still noticing that she was rather depressed and upset. The minute he had finished giving his assignment, the class got up to leave, and it was then that he remembered just what happened yesterday in class.

_(flashback)_

"_J-JIMMY?" Cindy Vortex had yelled after he had given and introduction about himself. He wasn't entirely sure why she had called him that._

"_Excuse me, Miss…" Professor Smith stopped, waiting for her to answer with a name. But she never did, so he decided to continue. "I'd prefer it if you called me 'Professor Smith'. No one's called me Jimmy since I was fourteen, and I don't plan on being close enough to any of my students for them to call me that." He had stared at her. She had been completely out of breath and looked like a nervous wreck. Why she was nervous, though, he had no idea. "Are you alright?" He asked, a little concerned about her health at the moment._

"_Vortex…" she said quietly, now staring down at her desk. Then she looked back up to him, hopefully. "It's Cindy Vortex." She said her name a little slower, trying to jog his memory. "Don't you remember me?" Tears were now beginning to well up in her eyes._

_(end flashback)_

Professor Smith's eyes had gone wide in realization. _"Is it possible that I'm the one that she was just talking about?" _he thought to himself.

"Wait, Miss Vortex!" But it was too late. She had already left amongst the herd of the other students, off to an unknown destination. Something inside of him told him that he needed to talk to her again. Even find her if he had to. _"Even if I'm not the person she's looking for, I'd still like to help her search for him."_

--

Sorry if that seemed rather short. Um… I've been rather busy lately. Band camp has been taking up a lot of my time and school starts tomorrow for me and I had to finish reading my summer reading novels! Agh… so I apologize. However, it's going to be the weekend soon, so I'll be updating then for sure. :) Longer chapters, too! Yay!

Thanks for reading!

**-brigette (aka: Kaze-no-Tenshi89)**


	9. Finding Cindy

Like usual, thanks for the reviews guys! I really appreciate them!

Just so you know, this chapter mainly deals with Professor Smith instead of Cindy. It might be a little different, but I haven't been writing this story in first person, so it's not really that big of a deal I guess. Wow, those two sentences were probably pointless and so is this one!

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron. If I did, there would be a fourth season!

**Chapter 9- Finding Cindy**

Over the next month or two, Cindy did her best to avoid Professor Smith before and after class. Like everyone else, she arrived only right before class started and left as soon as he dismissed them. She just couldn't bring herself to talk to him again. He didn't seem to get the message that she was talking about him, so she decided that maybe it was time to just give up. _"Maybe Libby was right… I'm going to have to just find someone else." _Cindy found herself thinking that quite often.

In class, Professor Smith would always hope that she would arrive early or stay late again so he could talk to her. But of course, she never did. He didn't know how he could get in contact with her any other way, though. He had been to the club since the time they met there, but he never saw her there again. The only thing he could think of was to find out where her dorm was. But wouldn't it be a little awkward to have your professor show up at your dorm room? He decided to save that as a last resort.

--

By then it was mid-October, where the temperature cools to a tolerable 65 degrees outside. Those days were perfect for taking nice, long, relaxing walks through the park, which Cindy decided to do often with Goddard. They would go for about an hour after her Astronomy class so she could clear her mind a little.

One day, on one of her normal walks through the park with Goddard, she noticed many other people walking their dogs as well. It wasn't uncommon or anything, but one particular person walking their dog got her attention. Professor Smith was walking his similar mechanical canine, Marie, on the same path and they were headed, of course, coincidentally, right toward each other.

"_Okay, stay calm, Cindy. Maybe he won't even notice you…" _They were approaching one another rather quickly. Just as they were about to pass each other Professor Smith stopped. Cindy knew he must be waiting for her, so she picked up the pace.

"Hello, Miss Vortex. I…"

"Hello, Professor Smith." Cindy interrupted, continuing on walking by him. She knew she must have sounded a little harsh to her professor, but she really didn't want to get any closer to him than she already was. And talking with him in the park would just make things more complicated. Of course she _wanted _to talk to him. But she just… _couldn't. _He was her professor and that's the way things were supposed to be.

By now, Professor Smith had figured out she was purposely ignoring him. At first he just thought she just was a busy person. He had no reason to believe she was ignoring him. He didn't do anything to bring that about. Unless, of course, it was about this friend of hers that didn't remember her. Then she might have a somewhat-good reason for ignoring him. But how could he ever talk to her? Whenever he tried, she just kept on walking or wasn't even there to begin with. It was then that desperate times called for desperate measures. He had decided to use his last resort: find out where she lived.

--

As a professor, one would think that he had all of that information already. Where his students lived, their telephone numbers, everything. But Professor Smith was different, of course. Apparently, the faculty board had specifically kept information of that nature _away _from him. He even tried to convince them when he was hired that he wouldn't be interested in his students in _that _way at all. Heck, he even said he wasn't interested in even getting married to anyone. Perhaps ever. So why would he be even the least bit interested in dating one of his students? The board was clearly insane, he decided.

So of course, when he needed a student's information, but not for well… _romantic _reasons… he did not have access to it. How would he get it then? He was a genius. He'd surely find a way.

--

The day after Professor Smith and Cindy had a run-in at the park, he headed over to the Office of Residency building, which was located relatively close to the Department of Science main building, where his office was. However, he wasn't going alone. He had Marie with him.

The records office, which kept information on where each student was living, whether in a dorm, apartment, or house, was located on the second floor of the four-story building. He knew the secretary who worked there, however, that only made things worse for him. Every faculty member at the university knew him because of his age, which definitely did not work to his advantage.

"Hello, Mrs. Archer." Mrs. Archer was a plump, middle-aged woman who had worked at the university for 25 years. She didn't like the idea of James Smith working at the university since the moment his name came up as a possibility. So, of course, ever since he started teaching there, she greatly disliked him.

"Hello, James. What can I possibly do for you today?" she said in a rather cold tone.

"I was wondering if I could possibly get some information on a student of mine." He said this rather innocently, but that, of course, wasn't going to get him the information he wanted.

It was a Saturday, so no one else was in the office lobby except him, Mrs. Archer, and Marie. Perfect.

"Now, James, you know you can't have any information of that kind _unless _you are either 25 or married." She was getting quite annoyed with his presence, so she began to fiddle with something on her computer. While she did that, however, she didn't notice the small, mechanical canine sneak around behind her desk to the filing cabinet that contained the information Professor Smith needed.

"Well… what would you say if I offered you this muffin I just so happen to have in my pocket?" Mrs. Archer was a sucker for food and everyone knew it. However, he knew she wouldn't take the offer because it was _him_. But that didn't matter at all. He didn't need her to give him the information. While he pretended to try to bribe the secretary, Marie quietly opened the filing cabinet, searching for Cindy's information.

"Is that a bribe, Mr. Smith?" Uh-oh, she used his last name. That wasn't a good sign. She might turn him in for trying to get information on a student. And who knows what they would do to him then! He was just in luck, though. He could see Marie out of the corner of his eye coming out from behind the desk with a small folder.

"Oh… this?… no! I was just wondering if you wanted a muffin! And you know, I was just joking about getting one of my student's information. I was just bored and thought, 'Hey! Why don't I pay my good friend Mrs. Archer a visit?' A little laugh wouldn't hurt either!" He smiled rather nervously. "Hahaha…haha…ha…" She wasn't smiling. "Um… I'll just be going now…" With that, he quietly slipped out of the office with Marie in tow. Mission accomplished.

Once he was finally out of the office, he took the small folder of information from Marie but didn't dare open it until he was in the safety of his own office. He had never brought Marie with him to his office before, so he hoped the other professors with offices near him wouldn't mind. Mrs. Archer didn't even seem to notice her (which was good, of course). So he concluded it wouldn't be a problem

His office was rather small, with just enough room for his desk, his chair, and a few filing cabinets. He didn't even have the luxury of a window. He was new, young, and not well-liked by many on the faculty board. So, of course, that meant he got the shaft. But hey, it was a job. A rather well-paying one, too.

"Alright… let's see here…" He opened the folder as he sat at his desk so if anyone happened to interrupt him, he'd just say he was working on something. "Cindy Vortex…" he quietly read over the little introduction of the on-campus resident registration form. "Former residence… Retroville, Texas. Hm… Marie… have we ever been there before?" Marie looked up to him and whined a "no". "It sounds familiar… Well, anyway. Let's see… current residence is room 23 in Jester West. That's on the opposite side of the campus if I'm correct. Maybe that's why she seems like she's so busy? Because she lives so far away?" Marie just looked up at him and cocked her head. "Well, now we know where she lives. The next thing to do is to figure out when to go see her!" Marie barked in agreement. He couldn't see her before class… that'd be way too early. Not right after class either… that might seem like he's stalking her. Plus, he didn't know when her other classes were. "I guess I'm just going to have to just go one time and hope she's there!"

--

James ultimately decided to "attempt" to give her a visit that Monday. It was rather brave of him, though. That only gave him one day, Sunday, to figure out what he was going to say to her, for he knew it would be rather awkward for both himself and Cindy for him to show up at her dorm room. But he knew he had to talk to her again. It could be his only chance, after all.

However, he wasn't overflowing with confidence. If, in fact, she had been ignoring him those past one or two months, she might just slam the door in his face. Though, he highly doubted she had no manners.

On Monday, at around 11:15 (because he didn't have another class until 2:00), he decided to head over to Jester West and locate Cindy. He had no trouble finding the room at all, though. The room was number 23, so it was located on the second floor. As he approached the door, he took a deep breath. _"Well, here goes nothing!" _He knocked on the door and waited.

--

Yay I like being evil sometimes! Haha… just kidding. I just think cliffhangers are what make the story more interesting! Hehe.

Thanks for reading!

**-brigette (aka: Kaze-no-Tenshi89)**


	10. A Dead End?

So, according to some reviews, my story is rather boring and the author's notes are annoying. First of all, this isn't an action/adventure story. It deals a lot with the characters' emotions and thoughts. However, that doesn't mean its all going to be like that. Of course I'll have excitement in here! I don't want you guys to fall asleep! lol Second, the only reason I use author's notes in the middle of the paragraphs is so that you won't get confused. Fine, if they're really that annoying, I'll take them out and have you figure out what I'm thinking. For example, when I decided to start calling Professor Smith James instead. You might have been like, "Wait… since when is he being called James?" Just stupid stuff like that. OK, this is pointless. I'll shut up now.

UPDATE: By the way, I've been revising my chapters and the author's notes are COMPLETELY gone! Yay!

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron. If I did, there would be a fourth season!

**Chapter 10- A Dead End?**

James knocked on Cindy's door and waited patiently, but nervously, for her to answer. Thinking back, he realized that no one thought it was weird for him to be in that residence hall. Then again, it was probably because he was only 18 and blended in well, even despite the fact that he was wearing a suit. Maybe he was just an overly-dressed student? Sure, why not?

After waiting only 5 seconds or so without an answer, James began to mentally freak out. _"She's not answering! OK, maybe she knows it me! Or maybe she's just not there or some–_"

"Sorry, I was watching the tele–" Cindy hadn't even seen the person she was talking to until she fully opened the door. "Professor Smith! What are you doing here?" She was surprised and shocked to see her professor, the one she had been trying so hard to stay away from, at her dorm room! _"What in the freaking hell is HE doing HERE?" _Cindy subconsciously closed the door slightly so she'd be prepared to slam it shut at anytime.

"Miss Vortex, before you slam the door in my face, let me just say a few things." At this, Cindy relaxed slightly. "Man… you don't even know what I had to go through to get information on where you lived!" he laughed to himself a bit as he said this. Of course, Cindy was a little confused. "I almost had to give up a perfectly good muffin for you!" It had been intended as a joke, but Cindy wasn't amused in the least bit. "Well… anyway, I wanted to let you know that I'm fully aware that you've been ignoring me." Cindy's eyes grew wide at this.

"W-what are you talking about?" she said, trying to act like she had no idea what he was talking about.

"Come on, Miss Vortex. It's really rather obvious." He really had no idea how much time she would give him, so he decided to get on with it. "Nevertheless, now that I can finally talk to you again–" Cindy somehow got the hint that this might be about the last thing they talking about before she started ignoring him: her "friend" that doesn't remember her.

"Would…" Cindy took a breath, "would you like to come in and sit down, Professor Smith?" Libby was at the library that morning so it wouldn't be a problem.

James was rather taken back by her sudden hospitality, but accepted it nonetheless. "That'd be nice. Thank you, Miss Vortex." She opened the door for him and led him over to the small living room area. He sat on the couch and she sat on one of the armchairs facing him.

"Listen, Miss Vortex, I–"

"Please," she interrupted, "call me Cindy."

"Alright… Cindy. Well, I'm sure you remember the day you told me about your friend who doesn't seem to remember you, right?" Cindy just nodded. "Well, I have reason to believe you were talking about me." She knew that was coming. Somehow, she felt both relieved and afraid at the same time.

"However…" She tensed as he said this. "I still believe that I stand by what I said to you on the first day of class… You have to be confusing me with someone else."

"Well, of course you would say that!" Cindy's voice rose a little. "You don't remember me!" By now, she was standing up. James just looked up at her and sighed. He knew she would say that. But he had prepared for it. He stood up and headed for the front door as Cindy just stared at him, amazed that he had just walked away.

"When is your next class?" he simply asked.

Cindy stared at him. She had no idea what he was doing. "Not until 1:00 but–"

"Then, please, come with me. I have something to show you." Cindy was utterly confused by now, but she decided to do as he asked. She figured it must be something important. So she followed him out of her dorm room and eventually outside. Where they were going, however, she had no clue.

--

James and Cindy walked quietly side by side as he led her through the campus. _"I guess we aren't going to the astronomy room or his office…"_ Cindy thought as they passed the Department of Science main building. They also passed the cluster of administrative buildings, the student union, the campus library, and one of the many cafeterias. _"Where the heck is he taking me?"_

Finally, they stopped at the edge of the campus, next to the road, in front of a sign that read "Bus Stop". "Um… Professor Smith… where exactly are we going? Because right now it's about 11:40 and I have class soon…"

"You'll see" was all he said as a large city bus pulled up. He climbed up the bus stairs and deposited change into the little box at the front of the bus. "This is for both of us," he said to the bus driver and pointed back to Cindy who was standing on the bus stairs. The bus driver simply nodded back. James proceeded down the aisle and sat down in an empty seat. Cindy followed him, but stood in the aisle.

"You can sit next to me, you know," he laughed as he said this, "I don't bite." Cindy gave a small smile back and sat down next to him. As the bus began to drive away, Cindy could see her professor, out of the corner of her eye, staring out the window. _"You know, he isn't all that bad looking. _Cindy found herself thinking. _"AH! Cindy! What are you doing? This is your professor you're talking about!" _Over the last month or two, he had let his hair grow out a little so that now his bangs sometimes covered his eyes. His… blue… eyes, that is. So, he really wasn't bad looking at all. That still didn't make it right for her to think that about him!

The two of them sat in silence once again until James stood up, signaling that they had reached their destination. So Cindy got up and made her way off the bus as James followed her. It was then that she realized just where they were: the city library.

"You wanted to take me to the library?" Cindy asked, a little confused, after the bus had driven away.

"Yep," James replied, "the campus library doesn't have what I wanted to show you. So, I decided to take you here." He began walking toward the main entrance with Cindy hurriedly following after him.

"But… what do you need to show me at the library?" She still didn't understand why they were there.

"Well, I'll show you." She didn't get why he had to be so mysterious about it, but she decided to just trust him. They made their way up the stone steps in front of the old library and then through the front doors. Cindy had never been to that library before, though. She always just used the campus one because it was a lot closer.

"Wow… it's so big!" Indeed, the library was rather large, with hundreds of shelves filled with books of all types and genres. But James wasn't there to show her any books. He was headed for the newspaper archives.

"Now, I didn't think you would believe me if I just told you," he said back to her, but she was still gaping at the old library. She couldn't even begin to compare the library back in Retroville with this one. It was simply that amazing. "Well, here we are." He stopped at an empty newspaper archives computer and pulled up an extra chair for Cindy to sit down in. Once they were both situated, he began to type a date into the search bar: May 18, 2002.

"_Hey… that's only a few days after we went to Mars…" _Cindy thought, but decided to keep her mouth shut for the time being. On the computer screen, a small newspaper article popped up that read, "CAR CRASH KILLS ALMOST ENTIRE FAMILY". _"A car crash?"_

"Read this article," James said to her, "I think it might clear some things up." He moved his seat aside so she could read the article better.

The small article read, _"Two days ago, a family of five was hit by a drunk driver on North Main Street at approximately 9 P.M. The Smiths were taken to the hospital immediately, all in critical condition. However, only one small boy, named James, survived the crash, with severe head injuries. It is unsure at this point if he will make a full recovery." _She noticed there was also a picture of a small boy next to the article. The caption read _"James Smith, the only survivor, before the tragic accident." _She couldn't believe it. He _was _telling the truth. Her professor… wasn't Jimmy after all.

"Listen, Cindy, I know you must be upset that I'm not the person you were looking for…" Cindy just stared at the computer screen. "But I'd like to help you out as much as I can."

"Can I possibly print off a copy of this article?" James was a little surprised at her response.

"Yeah… of course." He had no idea why she would want a copy of the article to keep, but he decided not to ask. "I'll go up to the front desk and ask them to print off a copy." Cindy didn't reply, but continued to stare at the screen in front of her. So James got up and made his way to the front desk to ask for a copy. _"I was so sure that he was Jimmy… Can this really be a dead end?" _She didn't know what to think anymore. _"Even the day this happened is around the same time we went to Mars. How can this be just one major coincidence?"_

James came back from the front desk with a copy of the newspaper article for her. "Thanks…" she said to him.

"No problem." He looked down at his watch. "Well, Cindy, it's 12:30… we should probably head back so you can get to your class." At that, his stomach growled, causing him to laugh. "And I think I need to eat some lunch!" Cindy smiled, something she didn't think she could do at that moment, and followed him out of the library.

--

They arrived back at the campus only 15 minutes later, giving Cindy plenty of time to get to her Advanced Bio class at 1:00.

"Thanks for showing me that article, Professor." She smiled thankfully.

"Of course, Cindy. I want to do everything I can to help you out." He returned the smile she had given him.

"Um… professor… I was wondering…" Cindy looked down at her feet. "Do you think you would like to get coffee or something one time… and I don't know… talk some more?" She wanted to talk a little more about what happened to him seven years ago.

"I'd like that." She looked up to her professor, smiling, and he smiled back.

"Well… I should go… I'll see you tomorrow, professor!" She waved to him, and began walking towards her biology class.

"Hey, Cindy," she turned around to face him once again, "you can call me James." She smiled at him once more. "I'll see you tomorrow!" James said to her as she walked away.

Neither of them, however, was aware that they were being watched from a window in a nearby building.

--

Ok, I feel a lot better now. That's why I made the end of this chapter rather happy, despite the situation! Wheeeeee………

Anyway, school has started for me so I don't know how often I'll be able to update during the week, though I will definitely be able to update on the weekends. So I'll update when I can!

Once again, thanks for reading!

**-brigette (aka: Kaze-no-Tenshi89)**


	11. The Start of a Journey

(Sorry guys! I had to delete it and then re-upload it again... the site was being really weird when I uploaded it he first time... it wasn't showing up anywhere and then it randomly disappeared...)

Hehehe… did you like the ending of the last chapter? I thought you might…_ -laughs maniacally-_

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron. If I did, there would be a fourth season!

**Chapter 11- The Start of a Journey**

Earlier that day, Cindy had gone to the city library alone with Professor James Smith, who taught her Astronomy class. A little weird? Strange? To James? Maybe so. To Cindy? Not at all.

It was late in the afternoon, almost evening, and Cindy was alone in the dorm room because Libby was out on a date with Sheen. With a Cherry Coke in one hand and a bowl of popcorn in another, she was ready to just relax and watch some TV. _"For some reason… even though I had spent time _alone _with my professor… it didn't seem strange at all. It almost felt… natural…" _Her mind wandered once again to the small newspaper article that sat on her small bedside table. _"Even though… now… he can't possibly be Jimmy… Maybe I just have a thing for geniuses?" _No… that couldn't be it. However, her interest in the subject got the best of her, so she set down her popcorn and soda on the coffee table and got up to look at the article once again.

"_James Smith, the only survivor, before the tragic accident." _Cindy read the caption beneath the picture of a small boy. He looked to be around eleven years old and because the small picture was in color, she could tell that he had brown hair and… brown eyes? Well, then again, pictures can sometimes be misleading. After all, many people look like they have red/brown eyes, so this just might be a case of red-eye. She studied the boy a little bit more. Even though the picture only showed him from chest up, she could see amazing detail on him, despite the fact that it was a newspaper photo. Something on the right side of the boy's forehead caught her attention. It was a birthmark. _"That's odd… I don't remember ever seeing a birthmark like that on Professor Smith's forehead…this is getting stranger by the second…"_

She gave the picture one last look and bit her lip. _"Alright, that settles it." _She quickly folded up the small copy of the article and shoved it into the front pocket of her jeans. _"There are a few questions I'd like to ask him tomorrow…" _She knew she was going to have to ask him if he could possibly go for some coffee after Astronomy class, but that was going to have to wait until tomorrow. Right now her mind was set on one thing: the McDonald's just across the street from the university campus.

--

The next day, Cindy woke up earlier than usual. She didn't want to look bad in her professor's eyes.

Wait… why did she care what he thought? Its not like they're going on a _date _or anything, right? They were just going to talk, professor to student. Well, actually, it seemed to be more like friend to friend at this point. But whatever the case may be, it definitely was _not _a date.

Right?

"_Right!" _Cindy thought as she rummaged through her armoire for something to wear. Despite it being October, it was really rather warm outside. Then again, it was Austin, Texas, so it was almost always warm outside. So she tried to find something that wouldn't make her too uncomfortable, especially since she might feel uncomfortable, anyway, being with her professor and all. She finally decided on a pink polo and a pair of jean capris. Nothing too special. Yet, she didn't want to look well, _bad _or anything. She also decided to pull her hair back into a ponytail and wear pink eye shadow to match her shirt. After she put on her earrings and her special pearl necklace, she smiled confidently at herself in the mirror. _"Done!"_

Cindy wanted to walk to class that day without Goddard, so she left a little earlier than usual, with a Poptart in one hand and her bag slung over her shoulder. Even though it was still rather early in the morning, she could tell it was going to be a beautiful day. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the temperature was perfect.

Since she decided to take her time on her walk to class that morning, she got to class just before it started. So she had to wait until the end of class to ask Professor Smith if he wanted to have coffee with her. _"Why do I feel nervous? It's not like I'm asking him on a _date _or anything!" _she thought to herself for about the five millionth time that morning.

The majority of her Astronomy class was spent watching a video about the composition of stars, so she was half asleep for most of the class. It wasn't that the subject was boring, but it was just one of those videos where the narrator's voice is _extremely _dull and boring, causing most of the students' (and the professor's) eyes to droop heavily in boredom. Anyway, this was almost perfect for Cindy because, by the time the class was over, both her and Professor Smith could use some coffee to wake themselves up.

"So… Professor Smith…" Cindy said casually as she walked over to his desk at the front of the room. By then, almost all of the students had left the room.

"You want to go out for coffee this morning, right?" he said as he looked up from gathering all of his papers together. Cindy was a little embarrassed that he knew exactly what she was going to ask. "Because today would be a _wonderful _day for some coffee!" he said with some forced excitement, mainly due to the fact that the video had drained almost all of the energy out of him.

Cindy smiled. "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. No offense or anything, professor, but that video totally sucked." He laughed at that and Cindy joined in.

"Well, would you like to go now? Or do you have another class soon?"

"It's Tuesday, so my next class, which is Advanced Chemistry, is at 12:30. So we have plenty of time if you're available to go now." Cindy really hoped he didn't have a class soon.

"Yeah, now would be fine. My next class isn't until later in the afternoon. So where were you thinking about going, anyway?" Cindy hadn't really thought about that. However, she was in luck. She just remembered that they had built a Starbuck's on campus about a month ago.

"How about the new Starbuck's? I heard it's really nice there!" Cindy suggested.

"That sounds fine." He finally finished gathering up his different papers and shoved them into his briefcase. He got up and smiled to her. "Well, shall we go?"

"Definitely. That video you forced us to watch drained all of my energy!" The two of them both laughed at that again as they walked off together towards the Starbuck's.

--

"So, was there anything in particular you wanted to talk to me about today?" Professor Smith, well, James, asked Cindy after they had received their drinks and were seated.

"Well, actually, I do have some things I want to ask you." Cindy semi-consciously played with the coffee stirrer in her coffee as she spoke. "About the accident you were in seven years ago." James gave her a rather unreadable look, but she took it as something bad. "I mean… if that's alright with you, of course!" she quickly added.

"Of course that's alright!" he said and smiled. Cindy sighed a sigh of relief. She then pulled out the copy of the article she had and set it on the table.

"Last night I was looking over this article again, especially the photo of you before the accident. I hadn't realized until then that your eye's in the photo were brown, not blue like they are now."

"Oh," James laughed slightly, "it seems I just had a case of red-eye in the photo." _"So I was right? It was just a stupid case of red-eye?" _Noticing the silence, James spoke up. "Was that all you wanted to ask me?"

"Huh? Oh! No… I was also wondering about the birthmark you have on your forehead in this picture." She turned the photo around so he could see it better and pointed to the birthmark. "I noticed that you don't have a birthmark there now."

"Yeah, I had always wondered about that myself. But I decided not to question it since I was in an accident where I received a head injury. So I've always just assumed that I had received new skin around that area in my forehead." Cindy relaxed in her chair, feeling defeated. _"Well that seems logical. So there actually are simple, logical explanations for it?" _She had actually given up believing her professor could be Jimmy earlier. He had a family before the accident. So how could he possibly be the person she was looking for? He couldn't. That's why she gave up. However, she still found it weird that he didn't look very much like his photo in the newspaper, despite being seven years older.

"Was that the last thing you wanted to ask me?" James asked her after a long silence.

"I guess so… for now…" Cindy replied.

"Well, I'll head off now then. I still have some tests to grade." With that, James got up to leave. Cindy took another look at the article on the table.

"Wait, pro–" she stopped herself, realizing that people might start to talk if they found out she was having coffee with her professor. "I mean, James." He sat back down, giving her the signal to continue. "Do you, by chance, have a picture of your parents with you?"

"Funny you should mention that, I actually just put a picture of them in my wallet yesterday after we had gone to the library." He laughed slightly and pulled out a picture from his wallet. "This is the two of them a couple months, I think, before they died. Actually, this is the only picture I have of them." Cindy was surprised. She figured he would have lots of pictures of his parents, considering they passed away.

"Do you mind if I take a look at it?" Cindy asked him.

"No, not at all." He handed her over the small picture. Cindy studied it for a while. His father was rather tall, probably around 6'3" and his mother was about a head shorter than him. Both of them had… brown eyes. _"Another case of red-eye?"_

"Tell me, did your parents have brown eyes or is this another case of red-eye?"

"Well, I'd have to honestly tell you that I don't know. This picture is the only reason I know what they look like." Cindy was taken back. "You see, in the accident, I suffered from a case of amnesia." Cindy gasped.

"That's so horrible!" She couldn't imagine going through life without remembering anything.

"Yeah… it was. After I recovered in the hospital, I went to live with my grandmother on my father's side. She always had a bad memory, so I couldn't really ask her anything. She never even had any pictures of my parents, save this one, because she was one of those superstitious ones. She believed that camera's stole your soul. That's why I don't even have any pictures of myself when I was younger, either."

"Wow. So… how do you know that the Smith's really are your family? Have you ever tried to research anything about them?" It seemed, to Cindy, that it might be easy for someone with such a common face and no memory to be misplaced somewhere.

"I haven't, actually. I guess I never really put much thought into it." James stared at the table. "I was always so busy with school, experiments, and other such things that I never had time anyway. I went to college at 14, so I really had no time for things like that then either. I guess one other reason would be that I didn't really have any reason _not _to believe that they were my family."

"Yeah…. that's true. You had no memory, so who was to say that they were right or wrong?"

"Exactly." James glanced at his watch. It read "11:17". "Oh, wow, I should probably go. Those tests aren't going to grade themselves!" He once again got up to leave.

"Hey, James," Cindy remembered to use his first name, "do you want to sometime see if we can find anything out about your family? You know, see if you actually are James _Smith_, not James Johnson or James White or something?" He smiled one of his smiles.

"Yeah, I would like that." With that, he turned around and walked out of the Starbuck's, leaving Cindy all by herself at the table.

"_He may not be Jimmy, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't help him. I mean, what if he really isn't a Smith? I can't just sit back and watch someone possibly live their whole life under a wrong name, now can I?" _Nope, she couldn't. That's just the way she was.

--

When James got back to his office, a few uninvited guests were there waiting for him.

"Why, hello, James."

--

I know I probably shouldn't have done that. I mean, how mean of me! Oh well lol. Deal with it and get used to it! xD

Sorry that I haven't been updating very much. Blame school! But I'm going to update as often as I can. I promise!

Thanks for reading!

**-brigette (aka: Kaze-no-Tenshi89)**


	12. Everyone Can Use a Break

Sorry for taking so long to upload again, guys. I just have one word for my excuse… school. Well, also something else… which happened on Saturday night… the Ohio State vs. Texas game! WHICH WE TOTALLY WON! 24 to 7! Yeah… even though this story is about the same Texas university… haha… yeah… I'm such an Ohio State fan! I'm just writing about Texas because… well… they live in Texas lol.

But you guys are getting a gift! This is probably my longest chapter yet!

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron. If I did, there would be a fourth season!

**Chapter 12- Everyone Can Use a Break**

The next day rolled around rather quickly, much to Cindy's surprise. Libby, Sheen, and Carl still didn't know that Cindy had been hanging out with her professor during her free time… and Cindy intended to keep it that way. There was no telling what Libby might say or do if she found out.

Cindy flew to her Astronomy class that morning via Goddard and thus, arrived there earlier than usual. However, when she entered the classroom, Professor Smith wasn't there. Instead, a short, balding man who appeared to be in his 50s sat at the desk at the front of the classroom.

"Um… excuse me," Cindy quietly asked him, "but, is Professor Smith out today?" The man looked up at her through a pair of tiny bifocals.

"Yes, actually, he has an important… well… _meeting _to attend to this morning," the man replied in a rather dull, nasally tone, "Usually class would be cancelled, but, as head of Astronomy in the Department of Sciences, I offered to step in for him."

"Oh… okay…" Cindy quickly walked over to her window seat and sat down. The man then got up and wrote, in messy cursive handwriting, "Professor Miller" across the chalkboard. He turned to Cindy, who was still the only student in the room, and asked for her name. "It's Vortex. Cynthia Vortex." At the mention of her name, Professor Miller gave her a strange look and quickly took his seat again at the desk, not speaking for the remainder of time before class began.

--

Professor Miller gave the class a rather large amount of homework, all due the next day, which he mentioned he would be teaching again. _"Good thing I don't have this class Friday through Sunday… otherwise this Professor Miller would totally ruin my weekend!" _Cindy thought with a frown as she headed out of the classroom in a huff. _"I wonder where Professor Smith is, anyway. He didn't tell me he had any meetings to attend to this week," _Cindy stopped to mentally slap herself. _"Of course he wouldn't tell you, Cindy! Why would he have to? You're just one of his many other ordinary, nothing special students." _Despite telling herself that, she still wondered if he really had meetings to attend to, especially because of the way Professor Miller had told her where he was.

Dropping the subject between herself and her mind, Cindy headed back to her dorm with Goddard trailing behind. "Hey, boy, you seem kinda down," Cindy said back to Goddard. He simply whined a "yes." "Well, I know what will cheer you up!" Cindy said excitedly. "How about we take a walk through the park after we get some lunch? We have just enough time before my biology class." At that, Goddard replied with a few gleeful barks.

--

The weather that day was relatively cool and the skies were cloudy so not as many people were at the park than there usually were. Cindy and Goddard liked to walk along a long, winding path that went through the woods on most days. The scenery was beautiful and Cindy would sometimes sit on a bench that overlooked a small creek and relax. That day, however, someone else had stolen her idea.

"Bark, bark!" Goddard dashed forward, without a leash, and began sniffing the canine that was with the person on the bench. The other dog, of course, turned out to be mechanical as well, being Marie. The two mechanical canines had not been given the chance to actually meet, mainly because in their first encounter, Cindy didn't exactly wait long enough. So both sniffed each other, as normal dogs do, and wagged their tails excitedly.

"Professor Smith?" Cindy rushed forward to the bench he was sitting in.

"Yes, it's me," he said, monotonously, not turning around. Cindy walked around the bench and sat down next to him. Professor Smith, however, continued staring at the creek, as if he were lost in thought.

"Professor Miller told us you had a meeting to attend to today and tomorrow… so what are you doing at the park?" He did not respond. He continued staring at the creek as he had before.

"…Professor?" Well, he didn't want to be rude to a student, especially since he almost considered her a _friend_. Professor Smith sighed and stared down at the ground in front of him.

"Miss Vortex… I didn't have a meeting today. Nor do I have one tomorrow." Cindy immediately gave him a confused look.

"But professor… then why weren't you–"

"Listen, Cindy," he cut her off, "someone from the faculty board saw me, alone, with you at the library the other day as well as at the coffee shop yesterday. So Mrs. Archer, a secretary at the records office, and a few other faculty members showed up at my office. Mrs. Archer had been working the day I, well, stole your housing information. I tried pull it off as just a joke while Marie snuck off with your records, but I guess she figured it out. She informed the faculty board and everyone became a little worried about me. Now, they were worried to begin with, me being 18 and all. They keep thinking I'm going to fall for one of my students or something."

"What? That's not fair!" Professor Smith looked astonished by the fact that Cindy had said that. "Listen, professor, just because you're hanging out and talking to one of your students doesn't mean you're having a 'relationship' with them! Didn't you tell them that? I mean, can't you be friends with any of your students?" Cindy didn't understand what was wrong with just being friends.

"Yes… I told them that… but apparently they don't care. For any other professor, "friends" would be completely acceptable. However, they believe me to be a… well… _special case_."

"But that still doesn't explain why you weren't in class today," Cindy pointed out.

"They decided to give me a few days off teaching your Astronomy class. They want to limit our interactions as much as possible." Professor Smith then sat up straight on the bench. "I just wish for once they would treat me like everyone else! It's not my fault that I'm young and single!"

Cindy couldn't help but laugh a little at that.

"You know, professor," she laughed slightly, "being single really is your fault." Professor Smith looked at Cindy for a moment and smiled as well.

"I guess you're right, Miss Vortex." He said with a jokingly dramatic sigh. Neither of them had realized it at first, but they stared into each other's eyes for no more than a few seconds. "Ahem… well…" Professor Smith looked away, a little embarrassed. Cindy just blushed slightly and looked down at the ground.

"They aren't doing a very good job," Cindy said out of the blue.

"…what?"

"The faculty board. We're sitting in the park alone together right now." Cindy laughed slightly again.

"Yeah… you're right." Professor Smith stared down at the creek once again.

"Well, I should probably go. I have biology class soon. I guess I'll see you next week then, professor?" Cindy smiled.

"Of course. I'll see you then, Miss Vortex."

"Come on, now! What did I tell you? Call me Cindy! Miss Vortex makes me sound so… _young and single_,"

"Hey!" he said, lightly punching Cindy's arm jokingly. They laughed together until Cindy got up from the park bench to leave.

"Well, professor, it was nice talking to you today," she said as she began to walk away, still facing Professor Smith, "I know we can't exactly find anything out about your family _together_, so I'm willing to go to the library on some days I have free time." She stopped her backwards walk. "Maybe we'll conveniently run into each other sometime?" Cindy said with a wink, causing Professor Smith to blush slightly.

"Well…Cindy, I…" he couldn't really think of anything to respond to that, "uh… I don't want you to go through all of the trouble just for me! I mean, I can do some research by myself, you know." Smooth recovery.

"I know," Cindy smiled, "but I just feel like I should help you out." With that, she turned around and walked away, with Goddard trailing behind, and waved a good-bye over her shoulder.

Once Cindy was far away enough to be out of earshot, James turned to Marie. "You know, I don't really know why she's doing all of this for me," he said to her, "but I guess some things are better left as they are." Marie barked in agreement. "And you know what else?" he asked her, causing her to tilt her head in the ever-cute normal dog way, "I hope we do run into one another again," he finished with a smile as he watched her shrinking figure travel away along the wooded path.

--

When Cindy got back to her dorm, Libby was still there because the only classes she had that day weren't until 3:00 or later.

"Hey Libbs," Cindy greeted her friend as she walked in the door. She noticed her friend was sitting at her computer desk looking over something. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all," Libby said with sarcasm in her voice.

"Alright… um… well, I'm gonna go ahead and walk over to that McDonald's and then head to my bio class. Do you want to come along or have me pick something up for you?"

"No thanks," she said, not once looking up at Cindy.

"…are you sure?"

"Well… actually… there is something I want." Libby continued to stare down at whatever she was looking at on the table.

Cindy opened up her wallet and thumbed through her dollar bills. "Alright, but, I only have a few bucks so…"

"That's not what I meant."

"Oh… um…" Cindy had no clue what she was talking about. "Listen, Libby, you know I'm not very good with these little mind games you do. So just tell me what you're trying to say!"

Libby got up from the table and headed over to two piles of clean clothes that sat on the couch. Finally, she made eye contact with Cindy. "This morning I decided to wash clothes. So, being the nice friend I am, I washed yours as well." She pointed to the smaller pile that consisted of Cindy's now clean clothes. "Well, as I was washing your jeans, I noticed something was in the front pocket." She then walked over to the table and picked up on of the things she had been studying when Cindy walked in. "This," she said as she held it up for Cindy to see.

It was the folded-up article about Professor Smith's car accident seven years ago. Cindy almost immediately went into panic-mode.

"Ah! Um… well, you see, Libbs… I…" She wasn't quite sure what she should tell her.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. You're still talking to him, aren't you? Otherwise, where would you get this article about him?" Now Libby was really starting to sound like she was Cindy's mother.

"Libby! Would you just listen to yourself? When did you ever receive the right to make decisions for me?" Cindy yelled back in response.

"So I was right, wasn't I," Libby said with a smirk. "You _are_ still talking to him! And you know what? I _don't_ have the right to make decisions for you. I thought you could have at least taken some good advice from your best friend!" Libby yelled as angrily hopped on her bed, put on some headphones, and turned away from her friend.

"Well, I hope you're happy now, Libby! I can't seem him anymore ANYWAY because of the stupid faculty board here!" Libby didn't answer. _"God, what is up with her? She's acting like she's my mother or something! And now she's pissed off because I decided to talk to my professor who I thought at one time could be Jimmy again? Yeah… that's such a good reason to get mad at your best friend!" _Cindy rolled her eyes, grabbed her bag, and headed angrily out the door.

--

The weekend went by slowly and Cindy had not seen Professor Smith since that Wednesday in the park. So on Sunday, her one totally free day out of the whole entire week, she decided to go to the city library early in the morning (because Libby wouldn't ask questions) and research some more about Professor Smith's past. She wasn't exactly sure what she would be looking for, but she would know it when she saw it.

"Smith… James…." Cindy mumbled as she thumbed through the many copies of newspaper articles in the library archives. "Aha! Here we go." Cindy smiled as she pulled out a few articles that told of a small boy and his troubled, young life. However, none of them had any pictures to them. "That's odd…" So the only picture Cindy had of this boy was before the accident occurred…

Cindy hadn't even begun to read any of the articles before the library announced that they were closing at noon that day. "Great… now I don't have time to go through any of the articles that might be kept on the computers… But I guess I can always just come back tomorrow or ask Professor Smith some questions on Monday…"

After the library had closed, Cindy headed back to her dorm room so she could look over the articles she had found that day. Libby, however, had different plans.

"Where were you?" Libby asked as she sat, bored, in front of the TV.

"Doing some research at the library. Why?" It wasn't a lie. She just wasn't telling her all the facts.

"Because Sheen, Carl, and I decided that we're going to Six Flags today." For something as exciting as Six Flags, Libby didn't seem very enthusiastic. Cindy, however, was.

"Really? That's awesome! I haven't been there since I was a little kid!" Cindy said excitedly. "So when are we leaving? Because I know it'll take about 2 hours to drive there."

"Well, now I guess. Lets go get Sheen and Carl…" Libby said with, once again, a not very excited tone.

Cindy rolled her eyes and threw her arms up in the air. "Come on, Libbs! Can you just forget what happened on Wednesday for now? We're going to have fun today! So at least act like it!" Cindy said with an encouraging smile.

"Well of course it's easy for you to say that."

"Listen, can we just continue this conversation later? Right now, I want to go have fun! I think we all deserve it. We haven't done anything really fun since we first came here!"

"Yeah… I guess you're right." Libby started to smile.

"Ha! I knew you could still do that!" Cindy said with a smile back. Cindy and Libby walked out of the dorm as friends, not enemies as they had been earlier that week. They we're going to go have fun… and Cindy certainly didn't want anything to mess that up.

--

Hopefully I'm going to have more time to update… ha… yeah… I HOPE! It's my birthday on Saturday by the way… so… I'm not sure if I'll be able to upload before then. I'm saying this because I probably won't update that day because I'm doing a bunch of stuff most likely… lol.

So… until next time!

and thanks for reading! (like usual!)

**-brigette (aka: Kaze-no-Tenshi89)**


	13. Secret Letters

I'm SO sorry for the wait guys! But I want to say thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday and for all of the reviews this story has gotten so far! 125? Geez! That's a lot! And it's my first story, too! Anyway, I hope this chapter makes up for all the time I've gone without updating... if it isn't... oopsies.

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron. If I did, there would be a fourth season!

**Chapter 13- Secret Letters**

The weekend had gone from bad, to worse, to actually quite amusing. Cindy, Libby, Sheen, and Carl had done something they hadn't done together in a long time: they had fun. With everyone, including Libby, in higher spirits at the start of the next week, Cindy couldn't help but have a little more hope for her own situation.

On Monday, Cindy walked into the classroom, an immediate smile plastered across her face. Professor Smith was back. "_Yes! I never have to hear another boring lecture from Professor Miller again!"_

But things weren't as back-to-normal as they seemed. A woman with short, dark red hair sat in a desk at the back of the classroom. It appeared to Cindy that she was a little too old to be a student, and, even if she was, it was a little late in the semester to start a new class. With some small suspicions, Cindy sat down at her normal window seat and got out her books for the class. She noticed out of the corner of her eye, however, that Professor Smith hadn't even looked at her once.

"_What's going on?"_

--

"I have a note from Professor Miller," Professor Smith said after the class had been situated, "that says he gave you an assignment in the book for homework. Please pass that up to the front of the class." Cindy pulled out her homework from her folder and quickly scribbled a note across the top of the page:

_Professor… is something wrong?_

She passed up the paper, making sure hers was on top so he could read it. He took the papers and quickly went over and sat at his desk, not even looking at the stack of papers he just gathered. "Today we're going to have another assignment out of the textbook, despite however much you may hate it." Several groans were heard throughout the room as he said this. He pulled a stack of papers out of his briefcase, talking as he wrote something on one of the papers. "While you're working on it, I'm going to pass back your tests from last week." Once he was done writing, he turned to the blackboard, writing the page number and questions the students were to answer.

"_This is strange… since when does Professor Smith give us busywork?" _Cindy's thoughts returned to the woman sitting in the back of the class. _"Does she have something to do with it?"_

Professor Smith rose from his chair and began to pass out the tests to the class. When Cindy received hers, she noticed a long note written across the top. She expected it to be about the 98 percent she managed to get, but when she read it, she found it was something quite different:

_Apparently, the faculty board still feels I am a little untrustworthy around you. That's why there is a woman in the back of the room, who happens to be one of the faculty heads, monitoring my actions. So that's why I've been reluctant to even look in your direction, if that's what you were referring to._

She looked back to the woman in the back of the classroom, noticing she was busy writing something down. Cindy quickly looked up at Professor Smith, who, noticing the same thing, gave her a very quick glance without turning his head.

"_How long is this going to go on?" _Cindy wondered in annoyance. _"I find it so stupid that they can't accept the fact that not every boy-girl friendship is a romantic one!"_

Once Cindy was finished with her bookwork, she glanced over to the clock on the far wall. _"I still have a few minutes…"_ Turning to the back page, she wrote back to him:

_I went to the library on Sunday, but I didn't really find out anything. I'm planning on going back to the library today after class to look at the electronic newspaper articles (the library closed before I could look through those)._

She glanced up to see Professor Smith looking over papers and scribbling down notes on them.

_I hope we can actually talk soon! –Cindy_

"Well, that's it for today, class. Please turn in your work even if you haven't finished it yet. I'll grade what you have," Professor Smith said. Cindy gathered up her books, got up, and handed her work to him. Once again, he didn't even glance at her.

"_This might turn out to be a little more difficult than I thought."_

--

Cindy took the bus to the city library, all previous articles she could find in hand. She hadn't really read them yet, however, she knew they didn't have anything she was looking for just by reading the titles.

So, first things first, Cindy quickly read over them, reading about a boy who couldn't remember anything but his first name. Apparently, after the accident, James had gone to live with his grandmother. His aunts and uncles had refused to take him in, claiming the deformities to his head as a result of the accident would only lead them into debt. As Cindy had noticed earlier, none of the articles contained a picture. When reporters and journalists asked James' grandmother why they couldn't take a picture, she declined to comment.

After going through various articles updating the public on the progress of James, she decided to go through the electronic articles. She typed "James Smith" into the search bar.

_12 articles found_

"_Twelve articles? That seems like a lot…" _Well, apparently the public had been interested in the boy who not only lost his family, but his memory as well. Cindy scrolled down, skimming the titles of the articles until one caught her eye:_ Boy's Past Doesn't Always Match Up._

_Only a few months ago, James Smith, age 12, was the only survivor of the car accident that killed his family. When questioned about his family before the accident, James is still unable to remember them, due to amnesia._

_Some things, however, strike a few people as "strange." Only one picture of James exists before the accident, including every picture of him with his family. From the one picture, many would say that he does not look very much like he used to. Could it just be a head deformity caused by the accident?_

_Dr. Anderson, the one who took care of James after the accident, says it is a possibility. "Sometimes the skull can be deformed in ways that make it look like nothing happened at all." Anderson has also stated that the deformity is the most likely cause of James' amnesia._

_His head, however, isn't the only weird thing. His old friends from school, who, on their first and last visit with him after the accident because he moved to a different school district, said they remembered him having brown eyes. The first thing they had noticed when seeing him was that his eyes were now blue._

_Could this be another result of his deformity? Anderson states that, "the science community is unsure at this point if anything can alter one's eye color permanently. So, at this point, there is a possibility."_

_And what about his sudden intelligence? In school, James Smith had always been a C student. Now, however, he seems to be excelling in almost every area. His head injury could have indeed turned him into a genius as well._

_All that has been learned is that his different looks and his intelligence could "possibly" be the result of his "possible" deformity and head injury. Did James Smith really manage to receive a deformity to his head, causing him to have amnesia and even an altered eye color? Or is the James Smith now actually someone different? At this point, it is still uncertain._

Cindy just stared at the computer screen in front of her. She couldn't believe it. _"His head had a deformity? But the James Smith I know doesn't appear to have one... maybe he somehow grew out of it?" _However this brought up images of Jimmy, with his overly large head. _"And his eye color…" _She could vividly remember Jimmy's startling blue eyes, ones that seemed so familiar, yet so distant. _"Even his sudden intelligence… Is it like the journalist said? Could the James Smith I know actually be someone else? And if so… is it possible that he really IS Jimmy?"_

She had to talk to Professor Smith.

--

With still a while before her next class, Cindy made her way to Professor Smith's office. She knocked, but no one answered. _"His office hours say he should be here… I wonder where he is."_

Instead of waiting around for him, Cindy took out a piece of notebook paper. She knew, however, that someone other than Professor Smith might find it first. So she headed her paper with her name and the date and began to write:

_Pg. 86 #1-5_

_The fifth planet from the sun, Jupiter, is the first of the gaseous, non-terrestrial planets in the solar system._

_Neptune found some information on your past today at the library._

_The constellation Orion states that, as a child, your looks changed, including your eye color, the shape of your head, and your intelligence._

_The moons of Saturn believe that some of these changes seem highly unlikely and that you might actually be someone else._

_Astronomers think you should read over the article I have included in here. Then, you might know why I want to know if you have any pictures of you before and after the accident._

Cindy took out the copy of the article she had printed off and paper-clipped it to the back of her "homework." She then left it in the mailbox-type thing next to the office door. She hoped that if someone else found it, they might just read over the first few words of the "homework" and believe that that was what it really was. Oh, she hoped.

--

The rest of the day, Cindy went through her classes nervously, fearing that a faculty board member might come bursting through the door to find her. When she safely went through her classes, she then had to sit in her dorm room and pray that no one would show up. However, no one had come to her dorm that evening, screaming that she must stop talking to her astronomy professor. That was a good sign. _"He must have found it then…"_

--

In class the next day, the same faculty board woman sat in the back of the classroom observing. Strange, though, no one else in the class found it odd for her to be there. Anyway, Professor Smith handed back their busywork from yesterday at the beginning of class. Cindy hurriedly flipped to the back page of hers, once she received it, and sighed in relief that he had responded.

_Miss Vortex-_

_I was shocked to read the article you gave me yesterday! Oddly, I had never read that article before. I'm sorry we weren't able to talk about it in person, but the faculty has also minimized my "alone office hours" (as they call it) and has given me some administrative duties to keep me busy._

_Getting to the point, I vaguely remember what I looked like then, as my grandmother refused to take any pictures of me. I guess she was another one who didn't care for how I looked, though I didn't know it at the time. She always told me that she thought the camera would steal my soul… or something crazy like that! She also told me that she threw away any pictures of me before the accident because she thought I might become depressed over my new looks and even possibly commit suicide._

_However! You might be glad to hear that my grandmother is still alive, though she is getting on in years at the age of 75. She lives on the outskirts of Austin. I have included her address if you think you may have any luck in talking to her._

It was then that Cindy noticed a small piece of paper attached to the back page containing an address and telephone number. She knew that the woman living at this address held a key to Professor Smith's past. It was only a matter of when she would be able to visit her.

--

I hope that chapter wasn't too bad…

Thanks for reading!

**-brigette (aka: Kaze-no-Tenshi89)**


	14. A Visit With Granny

Oopsies… so I haven't updated in a quite a bit… sorry… but life got a little complicating for me… and I basically had no time to write. However… I'm not saying I'm not busy and rid of complicating life situations anymore… it's probably just gotten more frustrating and confusing if anything. Anyway, sorry for not updating in forever, but I'm going to try my best!

Just so you aren't confused, this takes place a few weeks after the previous chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron. If I did, there would be a fourth season!

**Chapter 14- A Visit With Granny**

Cindy walked cautiously up the steps to the front porch of a rather old looking house. Judging from the architecture, she believed it to have been built sometime in the late 1800's, back when Austin wasn't exactly one of the busiest cities in the world. With each step, the wooden boards underneath her feet creaked and moaned from weight of the unexpected guest.

By the time she made it to the front door, she had serious second thoughts about whether or not she should really go through with this. After all, she wasn't even invited. Well, she had called, but the woman on the other end didn't seem to hear her very well. So she decided to come over, welcome or not.

She carefully knocked on the old wooden front door, almost afraid that it would crumble at any sudden movement. She was surprised when the door immediately flung open, revealing a short, skinny old woman. The woman peered at Cindy through her tiny bifocals, tying her long, white hair back into a ponytail as she observed the stranger at her doorstep.

"E-excuse me…" Cindy began, a little uncertain if she should have spoken first. The woman, in response, only continued to stare at her.

"I… uh…. I called you earlier this week… but… you couldn't hear me." _"What am I doing? She probably can't even hear me now!"_

And, once again, the woman stared at Cindy with a peculiar look one that Cindy couldn't decipher. In short, she had no idea if the woman could hear what she was saying.

"Well, getting to the point, I was wondering—"

"Would you like to come in, my dear?" The old woman cut Cindy off mid-sentence. Almost surprised by the fact that the woman had asked her that, she wasn't quite sure how to respond.

"Oh… uh… sure." The old woman turned around and walked through the front hallway of a rather skinny house. It seemed everything was tall and thin, except the old woman, of course. The stairs, which were located at the end of the hall, seemed incredibly narrow. Even the doorways seemed a little abnormal.

The old woman led Cindy through a doorway to the right of the stairs, eventually going behind them, and into the kitchen. The kitchen had a charming, country look, being small and quaint. She motioned for Cindy to sit down at the kitchen table, which she did.

"Are you always this kind with strangers?" Cindy asked the old woman after sitting down at the table. The woman gave her a quizzical look and then bustled off to the refrigerator at the far end of the kitchen near the back door.

"Well, you see, my hearing just isn't what it used to be. I find it a lot easier to hear in my very own home. It's rather odd, I must say. But anyway… tell me, what is it that you want with a lonely old woman like me?" The woman then pulled out a pitcher of water from the refrigerator and brought it over to the table.

"I'm a student over at the University of Texas at Austin… and… well, your grandson is one of my professors. Well, my Astronomy professor to be exact." At the mention of her grandson, the old woman froze in her tracks, almost spilling the water she was pouring into glasses all over the table.

"…My grandson? James?" the woman asked, almost in disbelief.

"Yes… James Smith… is something wrong?" Cindy wasn't quite sure what was going on with the old woman.

The woman slowly sat herself down in an empty chair across from Cindy, clutching her hand over her heart. "I'm sorry… it's just… I haven't talked to him in four years." Cindy's eyes grew wide, almost dropping the glass she was about to drink out of at the same time.

"You haven't spoken to each other in four years?" She knew from the way Professor Smith talked about his grandmother that they probably didn't talk much. However… she never would have believed that they hadn't even spoken a word to each other in four years.

"Yes… you see… a few days before he went away to college at the age of 14, we got into a terrible argument concerning some mementos of his parents and his earlier life. I had told him throughout his life with me that he should put everything that happened in the past, but he just couldn't seem to. So I gave him one photo of his parents, hoping that would settle it, but it didn't." The woman then looked down into her glass of water, almost as if she were looking for something inside it. "The next day, he just left. Never said good-bye to me or anything. We haven't spoken a word since then."

Cindy wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. She simply stared down at the table in the awkward and uncomfortable silence that followed. Luckily, the woman spoke up again.

"I'm sorry… but I don't think we've properly introduced ourselves." At that, Cindy looked up at the woman who was now smiling. "I'm Margaret Smith, the mother of James's father. You can just call me Maggie if you like."

Cindy smiled back. "And I'm Cynthia Vortex, but you can just call me Cindy."

"Well, Cindy, now why have you come all this way to talk about my grandson?"

If ever Cindy had doubts of whether or not she should ask the woman... well, Maggie, for information about James's past… it was then. _"I can't ask her anymore! She got into an argument with her grandson last time his parents and his past were brought up! The last thing I want to do is to be kicked out of an old woman's house in the middle of November!" _Sure, it wasn't cold outside. A bit chilly, but not too cold. She wouldn't have minded talking a walk actually, but just the thought of being kicked out scared her.

"Well… I was wondering…" Cindy braved after her mind fought a seemingly endless battle over whether or not she should risk asking. "Do you… possiblyhaveanypicturesofJamesafterthecarcrash?" Cindy rushed the last part, fearing the woman might explode at the mere mention of the younger James. To her surprise, Maggie just stared at her with a blank expression on her kind, old face. Assuming that she would want an explanation, Cindy spoke up again.

"You see… I've been trying to help James find out more about his past and one of the things that really baffled me was the photo of him before the crash and then how he looks now. The only thing missing is what he looked like right after the crash… while he was living with you." It was then that Cindy noticed just how old Maggie looked. In a matter of seconds, her kind, old face had turned into a tired, worn, expressionless one. She closed her eyes and sighed.

"I knew this would happen one day. Someone else, someone close to my grandson, would come to me, asking me for all the answers. Yes, I do have a photo of my grandson while he grew up in my house. It was taken during a festival we attended by a clown with a Polaroid camera. I had told him we didn't want a picture, but he took one anyway. Not wanting to be mean, I took the photo and shoved it into my purse. When I got home, I planned on throwing it away or even burning it, but somehow, I couldn't." Cindy was almost relieved at hearing that. _"So there is a photo…"_

"But, since you seem to know my grandson well, you probably know that he was a hideous child after the accident, his head deformed and all. And that was the reason I never took pictures of him." Of course, Cindy already knew this. He had told her that day at Starbuck's why he didn't have any photos of himself.

"However," Maggie spoke up, bringing Cindy out of her thoughts, "I can show you the one photo I have. I probably wouldn't show it to just anybody… but… I'll show you since you seem like a kind person… and the fact that you're my grandson's girlfriend."

Cindy wasn't quite sure if she had heard her properly… but she was almost certain the old woman had called her her grandson's girlfriend. "Um… excuse me… I'm not his girlfriend."

"…You're not?" Maggie almost seemed surprised to hear it. "If you aren't then why have you come all this way to find out something about someone who is just your professor?"

Here we go again. People just assumed that they were dating because they were of the opposite sex. "Is it really that hard to believe that we're just friends?"

"Hm… a boy and a girl… same age… dating age actually… yes, yes it is. You're single aren't you?"

"Yes but… Wait! That's not what this is about!" By then, Cindy was flustered, a bright red blush appearing across her face. Maggie noticed this and laughed slightly to herself.

"Alright, alright. You're just friends. Very good ones, I'm assuming. Well, anyway, I won't keep you waiting. I'll go find that photo for you." With that, Maggie left the small kitchen through the doorway they entered through earlier. Cindy then heard her proceed up the stairs, as they were right in front of the kitchen.

After what seemed like years, the old woman returned with a small envelope. "Please take this with you. I ask that you look at it some other time. I've kept this photo in this envelope for years, not wanting to look at how my grandson had changed. So, please spare an old woman some heartache, and look at it later."

"Alright. And thank you for the photograph. I should probably be going…" Cindy said as she noticed the time.

"This way, then." Maggie led her back through the doorway, into the hallway, and to the front door. "I hope this helps. Best of luck to you and James in the future."

"Mam… I already told you… we aren't dating."

Maggie just smiled back. "Of course, of course."

With that, Cindy left the old woman's house, waving a good-bye. She began heading to the bus stop, her anticipation building. A key to James's past was in her hands and it was only a matter of seconds before she found it out. The bus pulled up to Cindy and she quickly got on and sat in the closest seat. _"Just open the envelope, Cindy… that's all you have to do."_

Cindy slowly ran her thumb underneath the sealed flap to open it. She noticed the photo was upside down. Upon turning it over, her heart stopped beating. She couldn't even breathe anymore. It felt like the wind had been knocked out of her.

"J-Jimmy?"

--

Short-ish chapter… but… as you can see… an end is in sight! It's like that little light at the end of the tunnel… wait… no! Don't follow the light!

OK, I'm done… lol.

Until next time! (which I promise will not be another forever wait like last time was)

And thanks for reading!

**-brigette (aka: Kaze-no-Tenshi89)**


	15. A Moonlight Walk

So I lied… it WOULD be forever until I updated again. Ergg… my life can be so busy and hectic sometimes. I just wish I could have like a week off to do absolutely nothing at all… or rather… a week where I can decide to do whatever I wanted. Yes… that'd be very nice…

Anyway, moving on… thank you all for the reviews. I really appreciate it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron. If I did, there would be a fourth season!

**Chapter 15- A Moonlight Walk**

The light from the full moon shone brightly through an open window, illuminating the room in an eerie glow. A small light in the corner of the room showed a young man sitting a desk, flipping through a few dozen papers. James sat quietly grading the day's weekly Astronomy quiz, grimacing as he wrote down the tenth F of the night.

"I just don't get it! Am I really that bad of a teacher?" James quietly asked himself. He put down his red pen and leaned back in his chair, sighing as he stared out the window at the full moon. He had so many things to think about while being a professor… but one thing always pushed through his other thoughts to the front of his mind.

Cindy.

He wasn't quite sure why… sure, she was helping him discover more about his sketchy past… but… was that it? Was she just a good friend?

"_Of course she's just a good friend! What else would she be?" _James thought as he got up from his chair and walked towards the open window. _"How could she be anything more than just a good friend?"_ He had vowed to himself years ago that girls would never replace his love of science and teaching as number one. Never.

James stared up at the majestic moon, envious of its beauty. He had grown up believing he was hideous, deformed, the result of a horrible accident. While his friends in middle school began drooling over every pretty girl that passed by them in the hall, James simply ignored it. He figured he never even had a chance. So why should he waste his time thinking about something that would never be?

He couldn't even remember how he looked exactly back then. His grandmother of course had not taken any pictures of him. Mirrors weren't the most common thing in his household as his grandmother wasn't very fond of them. Too many chances to have more bad luck, he guessed. His memory of himself wasn't burned into his mind as a result. By the time he had gone to college, his body had already started to grow out proportionally to his head. Even then, when did he have time to stare at himself in the mirror? College was a hectic, busy, and difficult life for him. He didn't have some of the advantages older students had at their age— an example being that they could hop in their car and drive to wherever they needed to go. James had to follow the bus schedule and hope the bus wasn't broken down that one day he needed to get to the library downtown. Otherwise, he would have to walk to wherever he needed to go. The other students were also old enough to have credit cards and jobs. Being fourteen in the beginning, he wasn't exactly old enough to get a job at most places. As a result, he had to rely on the money his grandmother sent him each month, an allowance of sorts, despite the fact that they weren't talking to one another.

Even now, James didn't exactly care much about how he looked. Besides, why should a relationship be based on looks?

"_Wait… why should I even care? It's not like were actually dating or anything! I mean, I don't even like her in that sense… right?"_

Having no prior experience with the four-letter word of love, James wasn't quite sure. He assumed that love would be obvious, right in front of his face. Something he could tell right away.

Love, of course, isn't always like that. But who was he to know?

Whether it was love he was feeling or not for his good friend and student, he knew there was something about her he simply could not ignore. From the first day he saw her in his classroom, he felt as if he had seen her before. Almost like he had seen her in a dream. Was that even possible?

"_No… it can't be possible… there are over 20 million people in Texas… chances are, I had never seen her before that day." _Despite his almost familiarity of Cindy from the first day of class, he pushed the thoughts from his mind then. He had figured it was all just a big coincidence at the time. Coincidences happen all the time… why should that time have been different?

James turned from the window and glanced over at the digital clock on his desk. _"10:39…" _The next day was Sunday so it didn't really matter to him how late he went to bed. It's not like he could have slept anyway. He made his way into the front hall, retrieved his light jacket from the hall closet, and exited his apartment. He followed the main hall past another professor who worked at the university, noticing she, too, was still awake through the slightly open door. He quietly passed by her apartment, hoping not to disturb her as she was probably grading tests at the time. He finally made it outside of the building and into the cool night air. To James, there was nothing more soothing and peaceful than a late-night walk with the full moon to light his way.

No sooner had James made it out of his apartment building did a young woman come crashing into him.

"Oh my, I'm really sorry miss can I help you–" It wasn't until that moment that James realized just who he was talking to. "…Cindy?"

Cindy was on the ground just outside of the building's front doors, illuminated by the front lights. She smiled, avoiding eye contact, and waved him off. "I'm alright… I can get up by myself." She stood up slowly, rubbing the part of her arm that she had fallen on. James immediately noticed her reaction.

"A-are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah… it's just a little sore."

"Oh, okay… Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

Silence.

"Wait… what are you doing at my apartment building anyway?" James asked curiously.

"Oh… um…" Cindy flushed bright red, trying to remember why she was there in the first place. The envelope in her hand quickly reminded her of the reason she had come. "Can I um… talk to you?"

James, having been keenly aware of the expression on her face and her manner of speaking, immediately sensed it was something… important. Turning a little red himself, he was glad he wasn't standing under the light. He felt the least manly thing to do at that moment was to blush in front of her.

"I, uh, was on my way to that little park just over there," James said, pointing to a small park across the road. "We could talk there if you like." Cindy simply nodded and followed her professor across the empty street.

"I don't know if we're allowed to be here at night, but… I've come here many times at night and no one has stopped me yet." How reassuring.

The perimeter of the park was traced out by a trail with a playground at the center. James spoke up once they had reached the trail.

"So what is it you wanted to talked to me about?"

"I visited your grandmother today."

--

The night air was cool, but refreshing. A soft breeze gently swept across the faces of two young adults on a walk through the park. The man, at least half a foot taller than the woman, had stopped dead in his tracks.

"You… you visited my grandmother?" Of course he was the one who gave her the address to visit her but he doubted she would actually do it or if she did, she wouldn't have done it that soon. But he knew she had found out something important. Otherwise, why would she have come to see him in the middle of night? Another one of those "coincidences?"

"Yes… and… I found out something I must tell you." Cindy was now staring down at the envelope clutched tightly in her hands. "It's something I had believed from the very first moment I saw you. Or should I say… from the moment I finally saw you again." Cindy now looked up into her professor's confused eyes intently.

"I-I… don't understand…" No, he understood perfectly what she was trying to tell him. It was getting out the words that revealed his true past that proved to be so difficult. So, instead, Cindy helped him out.

"Y-you're… Jimmy…"she said in a low whisper as tears began to form in her eyes.

Having no idea as to what he should say to her at that moment, all James could do was to hold her close and ask about what happened later. Right now she needed him… and he knew that he needed her.

--

THE END… just kidding! I still have MUCH more to tell because nothing is that easy.

Mwahahaha…

Thanks for reading and not abandoning this story because I've been too busy to update!

**-brigette (aka: Kaze-no-Tenshi89)**


	16. Unwanted Surprises

Oh my! AN UPDATE! Hey guys… winter break is coming up soon so expect quicker updates in the following weeks! I think I've pretty much given up on telling you why I haven't updated, so I'll just hope you all remember that I'm extremely busy. But I love you all so much for sticking with this story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron. If I did, there would be a fourth season!

**Chapter 16- Unwanted Surprises**

_Vroooooooom SCREECH vrooooom…_

Cindy's eyes fluttered open at the sound of the nearby highway. Groggily, she turned on her side, her eyes not yet adjusted to the light of the new day. She slowly maneuvered her legs over the side of the bed, rubbing her eyes as she sat still for a moment. Opening her eyes, she pushed herself off her…

"..._ Wait… this__ isn't my bed…"_

Cindy spun around to find she hadn't been sleeping on her bed, or even a bed for that matter. It was a couch. She frantically looked up from the couch and searched the room, finding she had no recollection of the small apartment she now found herself in. The front door to the apartment was down a short hall directly across from the couch she had been sleeping on. A small hallway began just to the right of her and contained 3 doors. Where they led, however, Cindy wasn't sure she wanted to find out at that moment. The noise of the highway caught her attention once again, and she rushed to a nearby window, located behind the couch.

There was a highway that she couldn't recognize. Streets that were unfamiliar. The city skyline was off in the distance, much farther away than she wished it to be.

"…_. Where the heck am I?"_

Of course, Cindy could only assume the worst. Staring out the window, she tried to remember what she had done the previous night.

"… _Why can't I remember?? Did I go to a club? Did I meet someone? Were there drugs? Was it date rape? Oh my god…"_

Cindy instinctively felt around herself for clothes, relieved to find she was fully clothed.

"_So maybe it wasn't date rape… but why can't I remember what I did last night? Did I go to–"_

"Oh, good, you're up."

"aaAAH!" Cindy screamed as she spun around to find the owner of the voice.

The owner, surprised at Cindy's reaction, jumped, spilling coffee down his dress shirt and tie.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" An immediate blush of guilt and embarrassment spread across Cindy's face as she recognized the man as none other than Professor Smith.

"Oh, don't worry about it," her professor calmly said to her, a worry-free smile spreading across his face, "a trip through the washing machine should clean that right up!"

Cindy smiled back in relief. Her mind quickly returned to her burning question of why she was there in the first place, praying the whole while that her professor hadn't done anything… bad.

"Um… excuse me, professor, but… may I ask how and why I'm here?" Cindy asked unsurely, tugging the sleeves of her sweatshirt nervously as she spoke.

Professor Smith gave Cindy a slightly confused look as he walked over to the kitchen table and sat down. "…You don't remember?"

"_Why does this sound so wrong! What should I be remembering? AH!" _Cindy panicked, thinking of only the most horrible things that could have happened between her and her professor… alone… in his apartment… late at night…

Noticing the terrified look that Cindy subconsciously formed across her face, James decided to answer his own question. "So you don't remember? Well, that'd make sense." He laughed slightly to himself, in that simple, lighthearted way that always sent a pleasant chill up Cindy's spine. "And don't worry, Cindy… nothing like what you're thinking happened," he added, reading her mind. Cindy's tense expression immediately relaxed as she joined her professor at the kitchen table.

"So I'm assuming you'd like to know what happened last night. Well, it'd be best if you told me what you last remember." James took a sip of his coffee and gazed at Cindy intently, waiting for her to speak. Cindy could only grimace as she tried to remember.

James leaned back in his chair and sighed. "Well… you came over to my apartment yesterday just as I was heading to the park. You wanted to talk to me so… I offered to have you come with me."

"That was after I went to visit your grandmother, wasn't it?" James nodded. Even though she couldn't fully remember what happened last night, she knew she must have told him. "I… told you, didn't I?" He nodded once again. Resisting the urge to cry once again, Cindy managed to ask why she was at his apartment, or even a reason for why she couldn't fully remember.

"You passed out at the park… so I brought you back to my apartment and laid you on the couch. I wasn't quite sure what else I could do at that point."

"Oh…"

Now it made sense. She wasn't raped, or beaten, or violated. She was fine. Nothing bad had happened. Right?

Wrong.

"DAMN IT!" James yelled suddenly. "It's 9:15! We're both late!" He jumped up from his chair as he raced around his apartment gathering his things.

"Wait… what!" Cindy said, astonished, as she, too, jumped up from her chair in a frenzy.

"In case you didn't remember, today is Monday! We have class!" James quickly responded as he zoomed by her.

"But… you're the professor! I'm sure if you're late they'll find a substitute for a little while. It's not all that bad!" Cindy said, trying to calm him down a bit.

"In case you have forgotten, Miss Vortex, we're still being watched by the faculty board!" That was all he needed to say before Cindy joined her professor in trying to gather his papers and books.

--

"9:33… not too bad!" James announced to Cindy as he opened the door.

Unfortunately, for both of them, about 10 faculty members, including Mrs. Archer and the woman who always sat in the back of the classroom. No students were present, as they had been excused from class that day.

"No, I think this is very bad, Mr. Smith," said a man in the back of the room. He stood up, revealing his tall, large stature.

"M-Mr. Edwards?" James stuttered out, immediately paling at the sight of the president of the university. The appearance of the two didn't help matters much. James still had on his shirt and tie with coffee spilled all over it. Cindy's hair and clothes were a mess and she hadn't had time to put make-up on or anything that morning.

Afraid, Cindy instinctively moved closer to her professor.

That probably wasn't the best idea ever.

"Mr. Smith, the faculty has been aware for some time now that you have somewhat of a… relationship with Miss Vortex here," Mr. Edwards began, his deep voice echoing off the classroom walls. "We set some rules and guidelines for you, a young professor, to be able to continue teaching at this university. You, however, seemed to feel you didn't have to follow the rules. I'm sorry, but the faculty and I have no choice but to relieve you of your teaching here at the University of Texas at Austin."

Cindy almost fainted from pure disbelief. They couldn't have done that!

They did.

She looked up to see the expression on her professor's face, who, until that point, had not said anything.

"Well," James began, "I have enjoyed teaching at your university. Thank you." With that, he turned around and headed right out the door, leaving Cindy there alone with the faculty board. Noticing all eyes were on her, she rushed out of the classroom after him.

"Wait! Professor!" she called to him down the hall.

He didn't even slow down. "I'm not your professor anymore, Cynthia Vortex. So please just call me James or Mr. Smith."

That didn't slow Cindy down. "But… where are you going? You can't just walk away like that!"

By then, James had made his way out the front doors to the building and into the late November air. "Apparently, I can. And as to where am I going? I might as well pack up and find a teaching job somewhere else. I have nothing left here," he said to Cindy indirectly as he looked forward blankly.

Tears began to form in Cindy's eyes. "…Nothing?" She quivered as she spoke.

James looked at her out of the corner of his eye but didn't respond. "Even after what I told you last night, you still think you have nothing here? Nothing at all!" her voice rose in anger.

"I've survived this far believing in a possible fake past. I'm sure I'm not going to die from it." He once again, began to walk away.

Cindy couldn't believe what he had just said. He was basically throwing away his past, and her, into oblivion. He didn't care about his real family, his friends, the girl he had _loved._

"Yeah! Well, fine! Just keep running away from everything! You ran away from the faculty and know you're running away from me! If that's really how you want things to be, then fine! So you might be Jimmy, the boy I used to love. That doesn't mean I still love you!"

James stopped dead in his tracks. He turned around to see Cindy running off in the direction of her dorm, crying.

He didn't go after her. He just watched her run farther and farther away, until she was just a tiny speck in the distance.

--

Just when you thought things we're getting all peachy-keen… WHAM. He had to be an idiot.

Winter break is coming up! and you know what that means? Probably more time to update! YAY! (wait… didn't I already say that above, oh well!)

Also, if you are interested in seeing sketches of particular scenes, or if you would like me to make a cover for my fic, please let me know! I've been thinking about drawing one for a while.

**-brigette (aka: Kaze-no-Tenshi89)**


	17. Realization

Like I said before, I'm done with making excuses.

Here's another chapter! Yay!

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron. If I did, there would be a fourth season!

**Chapter 17- Realization**

It was late. Well, early. It was about 3:00 in the morning. Libby quietly snuck in through the dorm room door, afraid she might wake Cindy up. She stumbled through the dark as she made her way her bed. Luckily, a lamp post just outside the dorm room window gave her a little light.

"L-Libby?"

Libby froze at the sound of Cindy's voice. "Cindy, I thought you were sleeping! Did I wake you up? I'm really sorry if–"

"No, no. You didn't wake me up. I just haven't been able to sleep very much for the past few days…" Cindy whispered as her voice faded out, her mind lost in thought. She began to stare out the bedroom window with a sigh. The only thing Libby could do was give her best friend a sympathetic smile.

"But when I do sleep… I dream." Cindy spoke monotonously as she continued to stare out the window, not once glancing over to where her best friend stood. "I dream… of him."

Libby looked over at her friend curiously. Before, she had always been annoyed that Cindy always spoke about Jimmy and James all of the time. But now… she could see really how much everything that recently happened had been tearing her best friend up inside. Sure, Libby had her doubts about this James person, but she never wanted to hurt Cindy. She's her best friend. She just wanted to look out for her, help her deal with what the truth could possibly be. Right now, she felt sorry for her friend and for all the pain she had caused her recently. She seemed to have developed feelings for her professor… Jimmy or not…

--

It had been about a week since Professor Smith had been fired. But to Cindy, it had felt like an eternity. She hadn't seen him since, and, frankly, it was killing her inside.

Cindy woke that Saturday morning from another restless dream. _"Why can't I stop thinking about him? He decided to disappear from my life… again… why can't I make him disappear as well?"_

She slowly turned on her side to check the time. _"9:17… " _Her dream that night had been just like any other she had had the last few nights. They always began with their trip to Mars seven years ago as she saw Jimmy's form slowly vanishing from her sight as she sped off to safety. _"Why do I keep dreaming about that so much lately?"_

--

Cindy made her way across the campus to her Astronomy class, which was now being taught by Professor Miller, the head of the Astronomy department and sub they had had one day. Each day seemed to be a bore now, with Professor Miller's monotonous voice and boring class activities.

With ten minutes left in the class, Cindy jerked awake at the sound of the classroom door being swung open. Her eyes grew wide as in walked none other than James himself.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, Professor Miller, but could I speak to you about a few things for a moment? I finally have my stuff packed up and I have just a few questions to ask before I am transferred."

Professor Miller nodded. "I'll only be a moment, class." An eerie silence fell across the room after the two left the room. Cindy glanced around the room to see if anyone else was interested in what was going on.

…Nope. About half the class was still asleep, the other half was either texting away on their phones or getting ready to fall back asleep.

Cindy let out a deep sigh as she stared longingly out the door when Professor Miller came in and shut it tightly. She wished she could leave that very moment, see him just one last time. Talk to him even. _"No… don't be stupid, Cindy! He hates you. You're the reason he's fired! You're just going to have to get used to it._"

Professor Miller continued his lecture on why Pluto wasn't a planet anymore, acting as if nothing happened. Cindy's mind began to wander again… It wasn't that she didn't care about Pluto or anything. She did, very much. Even felt sorry for the poor thing. Being officially rejected by the whole scientific community of a much superior, advanced planet must make a former planet feel awful…

With poor Pluto off of her mind, she just couldn't stop thinking of James. He was probably heading back to his office now, finishing all the last-minute projects he needed to do before he was transferred.

"_Transferred?!"_

Reality hit Cindy hard that moment. She heard him say it earlier… but it just never clicked. Like a godsend, Professor Miller dismissed the class. Cindy grabbed her bag and bolted out the door, heading towards James's office.

When she arrived, he wasn't there. It was completely empty. Cindy frantically searched up and down the hallway for someone, anyone. At the end of the hallway she found a "Professor of Biology, Linda B. Howard" sitting in her office.

"Excuse me, mam, but do you know where James Smith was transferred to?"

Professor Howard slowly looked up from her desk and eyed Cindy. "The Ohio State University, I believe," she answered, still eyeing Cindy curiously. "What's the big rush? You seem out of breath."

"Oh? Really? I do? I um…" Cindy hesitated. What if this woman found out who she was? She definitely did not want that to happen. Just as Professor Howard began to open her mouth, Cindy quickly said, "thanks," and sped off down the hall

"_What do I do now?"_

--

Sorry, that's it for right now! I haven't had much time lately, and that's all I have time for today. It's coming to a close though! Just a few chapters left.

Um… just kidding! There's a lot left…

Thanks for sticking with my story! Please review!

**brigette (aka: Kaze-no-Tenshi89)**


	18. Letting Go

So… I actually tried to update this a few weeks ago, but for some reason, the website wouldn't work!! I went to France for 2 weeks so I couldn't exactly try again until now because well, now… I'm back! Yay!

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron. If I did, there would be a fourth season!

**Chapter 18- Letting Go**

Cindy had no idea what to do anymore. James's office was completely empty, with no books, papers, pens, or anything and a professor had told him he had already left for another university. Trying to go after him was out of the question. It would be stupid to even suggest that!

"_Ohio… of all places! Sheesh… that's so far away!" _Cindy thought, angrily.

Out of the thousands of colleges and universities in the country, he had to pick one that was so far away. Maybe he didn't even pick to go there… After all, Texas was his home. There had to be a reason for why he went there…

--

Once again, Cindy found herself coming home that night to a dark dorm room.

"Libby?" After no response Cindy guessed that Libby wasn't there. After all, it was only 9:00 at night. With a sigh, she set her things down on the small couch and proceeded to plop down on top of her bed. The lights were off and the only sound in the dorm room was of Goddard snoring on her bed. It was then that she realized how truly alone she was.

Cindy had changed a lot of the years. Instead of being her stubborn, pushy, and intimidating self, she had softened quite a bit. She found herself having a lot more emotional breakdowns as well, especially lately. Had she really changed that much? Even if she had, why did things have to change like that? Why did anything have to change?

Cindy stared out of the window from her bed and did one of the things she found had made her feel slightly better. She cried.

--

"Hey Libby…" Cindy groggily forced out as she tiredly climbed out of her bed the next morning. "What time did you get back?"

Libby was sitting on the couch watching some TV while eating her Frosted Cheerios. "Oh, not too long after you got back," Libby's usually cheery morning face suddenly turned to a somber one. "Listen, are you doing okay? I swore the next great flood was happening in here and I had no idea where to find someone who could build an ark!"

The comment made Cindy smile a little. "Yeah… I'm… okay…"

"Sure doesn't sound like it," Libby replied, unconvinced. "Come on, Cindy. Please tell me what happened."

Cindy took a seat and explained the previous day's events to a wide-eyed Libby. "So… he's really gone?"

"He's gone."

Libby looked at her friend's depressed face, which now stared gloomily into the carpeted floor. "Hey, Cindy?" Cindy just looked up, unmoving. "Maybe… it's a good thing that he left?" Cindy's expression turned to one of total confusion.

"What! Why would you say that?" She stood up in disbelief. How could her friend have just said that?

"Okay… Cindy… just listen to me for a second. I mean… so it may be Jimmy. So what? It sure doesn't seem to be the Jimmy I always remembered… running away from things. Maybe it's best if you just… let him go." Cindy could only just stare at her best friend. Or was she her former best friend? Why was she saying this…?

"We all thought he was gone once. Maybe that's how it's supposed to be… him not here. I think everything that happens has a reason…" Libby looked at her friend, hoping she would understand.

"Well I don't know about you, but I always kind of imagined him being there! This is just so… I… I… I'm going to go… for a walk…" Cindy made her way almost blindly to the door, forgetting she still had pajamas on.

--

One of the things Cindy loved about Texas was that it was always beautiful, no matter the time of the year. Even in the winter, plants bloomed and animals frolicked around the campus and parks.

She had overslept a little, so by now it was about noon, time for lunch, something her stomach reminded her of on her short walk.

"Good thing it's Saturday, huh boy?" Cindy said rather cheerfully to her robot dog, someone (or something) that was always by her side. It made her feel slightly better knowing that something of Jimmy's was still with her. Goddard barked cheerfully back to her, trying to hide his confusion of why she was so happy.

She must have read his mind. "You know… I was thinking… maybe Libby was right. I spent all those years believing he was still alive. I think I've found him… but… he almost seems like he doesn't want to be found." Cindy turned away from her dog to look down the path they were walking down. "I can't keep searching and trying forever, Goddard. Maybe it really is time to let him go," her voiced trailed a bit at the end.

Goddard let out a small sigh of agreement. Secretly, however, he was rather depressed that the young professor had left. His thoughts were on a certain robot dog he may never see again…

--

Sorry for the short chapter, but I already started the next one! So count on a quick update! (it just seemed weird to add the next part in during this one…)

**-brigette (aka: Kaze-no-Tenshi89)**


	19. The Inevitable

Thank you all for still reviewing and reading my story! I've had a hard time coming up with time to continue it with vacations, band camp, getting ready for school crap, and then doing all that boring summer reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron. If I did, there would be a fourth season!

**Chapter 19- The Inevitable**

"Cindyyyyyyyy!"

"_Ugh…"_

"Cindy! Wake up!"

Cindy rolled over on to her side to get a good look at whoever woke her from her tormented sleep…

"Libby?" Cindy squinted her half-asleep eyes trying to make out the features of her best friend. "What are you doing here? I thought you and Sheen were leaving for Key West…"

"We are, Cindy. It's still only two-o'clock in the morning… You were screaming."

Cindy suddenly went rigid. Libby's concerned gaze let Cindy know that she had noticed. But, somehow, to Cindy, it wasn't as surprising to her as it looked. Not with all the horrible dreams she had been having lately…

"Was it… another bad dream?" Libby added, hesitating a bit.

Cindy merely shrugged it off, like nothing happened. "Yeah, I guess so. Just go back to sleep Libby so you won't be tired for your trip. Don't worry about me anymore."

Libby gave Cindy a quick worried glance, but did as her friend wished. Cindy, however, wasn't going to go back to sleep as easily.

It had been a few months since James had left for Ohio and spring break was finally starting. Sheen and Libby were heading off on a road trip down to Key West, Florida together. They had invited Cindy and Carl along, but both declined. Cindy didn't quite feel like going on a vacation where she would constantly see so many happy couples, including Libby and Sheen. Carl decided not to go because of his horrible allergy to tropical plants native to Florida.

Cindy thought many times of going to Ohio, but every time she decided she would go, something would happen and she wouldn't be able to take a weekend off. But spring break was finally here. So why was she still sitting in her dorm in Texas? She had decided a while ago that she wasn't going to go running after him… But was that really what she truly wanted?

--

With Sheen and Libby now on their way to Florida, Cindy finally thought she might have a nice week, full of alone time. One would think she would get used to things not going according to plan, but that didn't damper the excitement she had for a nice, quite week.

Cindy headed out of her dorm room to take a nice mid-morning jog around the close-to-empty campus. Most of the students and teachers were away on vacations. She knew that most people would feel jealous, but for some reason, she didn't. She was perfectly content with staying on campus.

Halfway through her jog, she heard a muffled shout that somehow sounded like "Cindy" coming from behind her. She shrugged it off. Everyone she knew was away on vacation…

"Cindy!"

Okay, she wasn't hallucinating.

"Miss Vortex! Please wait!"

Cindy stopped and turned around. Walking fast down the sidewalk towards her was her rather chubby, current chemistry professor Professor Yoland.

"Professor Yoland? Is something the matter?"

Yoland finally caught up to her, panting a bit after his rather intense walk. Well, intense for him. After he caught his breath, he was able to speak again.

"Miss Vortex, I'm so lucky to have found you!" A huge grin was plastered on his face. "…On spring break too! I was so sure that every one of my students would be away on vacation… but no! And you! Of all my students! How lucky!"

"Woah, professor, calm down. What's going on?" Cindy was thoroughly confused. Had she missed an assignment? Had she failed one of her tests? She could only think of the worst…

"Well, you see, in my haste to cram my lessons in before spring break, I had failed to mention the National Chemistry Convention that is being held this year! Our university was to present its recent findings at the convention, but we can't unless we have at least on student attend the convention and present the findings! Convention rules, you see…"

Cindy's face twisted into a half-understanding, half-still-confused look. Wait, was he asking her to go to this convention…

"Wait, professor, are you saying you want me to—"

"Well, you see…" Yoland suddenly became very cautious of how he spoke. "Since I forgot to mention it in my classes, I wasn't able to find a student, and I told the faculty I would choose a student this year… Oh, this is all so hopeless!" He threw his arms in the air in an overly-dramatic gesture.

"I'll do it."

"…What?" Yoland brought his hands back down to their normal position.

"I'll go to this convention."

Yoland suddenly exploded into a giant blob of happiness. "Oh, thank you Miss Vortex! I knew I could depend on you! You always have been one of my best students." This caused Cindy to blush a bit.

"The convention starts in two days and lasts until the day before classes resume here. So you'll have plenty of time to get there and back. Of course, I'll be coming along too. But wouldn't that be a little weird if you rode with your professor all the way there?" Yoland chuckled to himself a bit at what he thought was a humorous comment.

"Y-yeah, haha…" Cindy said nervously. "Wait… professor… what do you mean by 'all the way there'? Where exactly is this convention?" Cindy knew it was coming. The inevitable. She knew his answer before it left him.

"Why I didn't tell you? How silly of me! It's at the Ohio State University! They have such a mighty fine chemistry program there. I almost feel ashamed to got there and tell them I'm merely from Texas… but oh you should see the chemistry building…!"

The rest of what Yoland said did not process through Cindy's mind. It wouldn't have mattered to her anyway. All she could think of was the fact that she was on a trip to the very place she tried to tell herself never to go to… and she had no way of backing out.

--

Once again, I apologize for making such a short chapter.

Anyway, I hope that was alright! My next update shouldn't be as far away as this last one was! I apologize for that. Thanks for sticking with the story!

Oh yeah, and I made up the National Chemistry Convention. I'm so cool, huh? Haha… you can laugh now. It's okay.

**-brigette (aka: Kaze-no-Tenshi89)**


	20. Road Trip! Kind of

Hey! Sorry you haven't heard from me in a while… being a senior has caused me to have lots of stress in the area of college applications these past months… lol. And guess where I want to go? If you couldn't tell from the story, it's the Ohio State University! Go Bucks! haha

Now on with the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron. If I did, there would be a fourth season!

**Chapter 20- Road Trip! Kind of…**

Well, the road trip wouldn't be TOO awkward… Goddard would hopefully be there to help tame the awkward, uncomfortable feelings that would be running savage throughout the car as Cindy rode to Ohio with her chemistry professor, Professor Yoland. Unfortunately, absolutely no other students were available so she, a freshman, had to come tag along on this trip. Curse being caught off guard while no other chemistry students are on campus!

"Oh come on, Goddard, it won't be so bad!" Cindy whined for tenth time that morning, trying to convince her robotic dog (and herself) that the trip wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Well, she hoped it wouldn't be, anyway. "I'll be there! You can bring along some of those travel games and forget we're even with my chemistry professor! I promise it will be okay!" Cindy's eyes were desperately begging Goddard to come. She didn't want to spend over 24 hours alone in a car with Professor Yoland, but that wasn't the main reason. What if she ran in to James? She didn't think she could handle it by herself. Then again, she didn't plan on or hope to run into him...

Goddard simply whined an "okay" in response to his persistent begging and gloomily headed off to the couch to get a quick nap before the journey.

Hoping the trip will be alright after all, Cindy rushed back to her room to cram her week's worth of clothing into her small bag.

--

"HmmhmmHMMMMhmHMhmmmHMMMMM!"

"_Oh God… how much longer is Yoland going to keep humming!" _They had only been on the road for half an hour and already he was being ultra-annoying to both Cindy and Goddard. As if he read her thoughts, Goddard glanced up at Cindy with mutual feeling.

"Well, Goddard, why don't we play some games… considering we have a billion more hours in this tiny car," Cindy said sarcastically as she looked around at the insides of her professor's car. There was barely room for two people in the back seat plus the large cooler of food and drinks her professor insisted on bringing. It was a wonder that Yoland even fit in the driver's seat, considering his big belly and all.

"_One thing I don't get, Goddard…" _Cindy thought, _"is why I am allowed to travel with an old professor in his tiny car, alone, all the way to Ohio. Yet, I can't talk to a professor outside of class who happens to be my own age. I just don't get the faculty board… Honestly, I think they're all nuts!" _With that, Cindy chuckled a bit to herself, amused by her own thoughts. Goddard, having no idea what she was laughing about, just gave her "you're crazy!" looks.

Cindy had wanted to drive herself to Ohio but, of course, she had no car. Her mom didn't want her to worry about parking and having to deal with parking passes and similar things her freshman year. _"It's not really that big of a deal… she just didn't want to part with any of her four cars that she selfishly NEVER lets me drive!" _She suddenly looked out the window. _"Mom… I wonder how she's doing. It's been a while since I've talked to her… I can't even remember what I've told her about what's been going on here. That's how sad this is… I wonder what she'd say if she knew I was on my way to Ohio right now, crammed into a car with my chemistry professor? She'd probably laugh at me, call me a nerd or something. She always liked doing that… 'You and that Jimmy are going to have such a nerdy family if you ever get married!' she used to tell me so many years ago…"_

"Jimmy…" She hadn't noticed she spoke his name aloud until Goddard looked up at her curiously. Luckily, Yoland was still humming to God-knows-what in the front seat and couldn't hear what was going on behind him. "Goddard… do you think we'll see James when we get there?"

Goddard shrugged slightly, having no idea himself.

"That's what I thought, too. Just like Jimmy, James is such a nerd. Put any form of science in front of the word 'convention' and he'll be there in two seconds flat. The thing is… I don't know if I want to see him." Goddard had heard this many times the night before, as Cindy worried about what would happen if they were to somehow cross paths. "I'd like to see him again… but I know it will just make trying to forget him all the more painful. I'm trying to forget him… so Goddard, please don't go trying to find him, okay?"

Her robotic dog gave her a depressed look but barked a soft agreement. He was rather sad, though. He had really hoped to run into her former professor. Especially since he might have a certain female mechanical dog with him…

--

"Cindy! Cynthia Vortex!"

"Whaa…"

"Cindy, wake up! We're almost there!"

Cindy slowly opened her eyes, ready for blinding sunlight to hurt her sleepy eyes. But when she opened them, it was pitch black outside the car window, the only lights coming from the highway lampposts and the passing cars. "Professor… what time is it?"

"It's about… 4:15 AM!" Yoland sung. "I drove all night!"

She just didn't understand it. How could a guy drive that many hours straight and not be tired? He was also one of the nutty ones, she decided. She just happened to go to a university full of nutty faculty. Oh, how wonderful.

"So, professor, what exactly are we going to do when we get there then? The convention doesn't even start until 10:00 I thought."

"You're absolutely correct, Miss Vortex!" Once again, an unnecessary smile was spread across his face for a girl who wasn't really in the mood. "We have hotel rooms at a hotel that's relatively close to campus. You can get a few hours of real sleep if you like. Just remember to look over the notes for our presentation. Ours is at 2:00." He ended with another smile.

"_How can he be so happy!" _She wasn't going to lie. He was really starting to tick her off.

Cindy looked over at Goddard still fast asleep on the seat beside her. It was a good thing he decided to come along, she remembered. His projector and ability to store data would come in handy during their presentation.

"_Let's just hope it all goes smoothly… and in a few days, I'll be in this same car on my way back to Texas with everything back to normal."_

What was normal anyway?

--

Short, I know! Don't yell at me! At least I'm updating! It's Thanksgiving break, so if you guys review nicely, I'll update again during break!

Once again, thanks for reading!

**-brigette (aka: Kaze-no-Tenshi89)**


	21. The Convention

Thanks for being so patient guys and for the reviews! I promise this chapter will be more interesting! Yay!

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron. If I did, there would be a fourth season!

**Chapter 21- The Convention**

BEEP… BEEP… BEEP… BEEP…

"_No… Sleep..." _Cindy rolled over on her side and smacked the alarm clock so hard it fell off the table. Picking up the clock she noticed it was…

"9:45!! WHAT!! I set it for 8:45!" There was no time to panic. Even though her presentation wasn't until 2:00, she promised Professor Yoland she would meet him in front of the convention center 5 minutes before 10:00. He insisted on going to the convention at 8:00 to help set up (once again, her professor denied the need for an adequate night's sleep… the nut). Poor Goddard was too exhausted to fly so she found that a bus would pick her up at 9:50…

"Now I only have 5 minutes to get ready! AH! And my hair is still greasy!" A freaked out Cindy didn't notice her robot dog spray her down with a chemical mist.

"Uck! Goddard! What is this! I don't have time to play right now!" Goddard simply whipped out his attached mirror and Cindy's eyes grew wide at her reflection.

"…What?? I'm clean? My hair isn't greasy?" Cindy looked at Goddard and wanted to hug him. "Thank you so much! Now I'll I gotta do is find my outfit!" With that, Cindy began to rummage through the closet. _"Man, I wish Goddard would have told me about that misty stuff sooner… that sure comes in handy when you're running late!"_

A minute later, Cindy emerged from the bathroom fully dressed. "Goddard! It's 9:50! We've got to run!" Luckily, their hotel room was only on the second floor, so the two of them flew down the stairs and out the front door. They finally made it outside just as…

"Goddard! The bus is leaving!! What do we—" Goddard grabbed on to the back of her jacket and they went zooming towards the bus.

"Goddard! The door isn't open! What are you—" As a reply, Goddard simply set her down on the roof of the bus, fastening her with his own built-in seatbelt. "Oh, Goddard… what would I do without you?" Cindy couldn't wipe the smile off her face. "If we had missed that bus, I don't know what we'd do! I know you like to fly me places, but you're probably tired and I honestly have no idea where the convention center is!" Goddard nodded a sleepy consent and decided to doze off for a few minutes.

--

"Goddard! Wake up! We're here!" Cindy gently shook her robotic dog as the bus came to a stop in front of a large, square building. Many different people with lab coats, lab equipment, charts, and other things were coming in and out of the building. "This must be it!"

Goddard flew Cindy down off the roof of the bus.

"Hey, girl! What do you think you were doing on top of my bus?" Cindy's heart stopped. _"Oh no! The bus driver saw me!" _The bus driver jumped out of his seat and off the bus to face his non-paying customer.

"Um… hi. I, uh," Cindy stammered, "um… I was running late and the bus was already leaving…" For the most part, Cindy stared at the ground (her helpless girl act) and only occasionally looked into the man's eyes. "I had already paid for my ticket! See!" Cindy pulled out her bus ticket and showed the man who grunted an "okay" and proceeded back onto the bus.

"It's a good thing I didn't leave this in the hotel room! Although, I don't know why he wasn't more surprised that I just came down from on top of the bus… Well, I guess that guy sees enough crazy things as it is, being a bus driver at a university and all." Cindy laughed to herself and headed toward the front doors of the convention center.

"Cynthia! Miss Vortex!" Cindy's round professor came blobbing down the path toward her with, of course, a smile slapped on his face. _"If only I could ACTUALLY slap his face…"_

"Oh, Miss Vortex! I wasn't sure if you were going to make it! Did you remember to bring everything for our presentation?" Cindy simply gestured toward Goddard. "Oh, yes, yes, of course! I keep forgetting you have such a remarkable dog." Once again, a smile. That was rather annoying. "Shall we head on in, Cindy?" Cindy nodded and followed her jolly professor into the convention center.

--

The whole convention center was buzzing; scientists were sharing their findings, observers were traveling from station to station, and a passerby couldn't help but pop in for a look. At the far end of the room, a stage was set up where a group of five people were beginning their presentation on "Common Uses for DNA Today."

Yoland and Cindy went from station to station, learning about what other universities were studying and researching.

After a while, Cindy's stomach began rumbling. _"It's already 12:30 and I never even ate breakfast… no wonder I'm starving!"_

"Hey, professor, do you think we could grab something to eat for lunch?" She asked the back of Yoland's head as he was immersed in some experiment.

"Yeah, yeah, go ahead Cynthia. I'll just meet you near the stage at about 1:30?" After that, Yoland went back to mixing chemicals with several other scientists and professors.

"Okay…" Cindy sighed as she walked off towards the "Buffet of Science," a small room (with things that might hopefully be food) located down a long hallway attached to the main convention center room. _"He doesn't eat either? He's more than nuts! He's something I don't think there is a word for! He's skipping sleep and food… for science? There's only one other person I could think of that would…"_ Cindy halted. _"No, Cindy… stop it!" _Goddard glanced up at his master and sighed, sensing what was troubling her once again.

--

At 1:30, Cindy made her way back to the main room and met with Yoland by the stage.

"Now, Cindy, let's grab a chair or two and just go over again what we're going to do. We didn't get to go over it as much as I would have liked on the car ride here." Cindy rolled her eyes. _"It's because normal people like me enjoy some shut-eye once in a while!"_

--

2:00 came fast. Cindy and Yoland had on white lab coats (to look more scientific and credible, she guessed). Goddard began displaying their presentation slides via his projector.

Everything was going fine until Cindy began speaking about the various chemicals they had used in some of their experiments to test trees for weather records. It wasn't her speech that had made her nervous. It was the man sitting in the back row.

--

"_Oh my god…" _Cindy began stuttering and sweating uncontrollably. Luckily, most of her part of the presentation explained itself through slides so she had a few moments to collect herself. _"Why is he here… I don't believe it… no… it's not him… it's someone else… it has to be…"_

"And as you can see, these chemicals showed that the trees…" Cindy continued her speech, trying not to think about the man in the back row.

--

At the end of the presentation, Cindy and Yoland were applauded and met with many different scientists and professors. After everyone had dispersed and the next group was setting up, Cindy couldn't help but notice that same man was still sitting in the back row.

"_Maybe he's just sitting through all of them? Maybe he didn't even see me? Oh, that's silly… he would have noticed Goddard for sure!"_

Cindy stared at the man, waiting for him to make a move. When he finally did, it wasn't what she was expecting. He simply got up and walked out of the center.

"Wh-what?" Cindy said softly to herself. "Where is he…" At that moment, she had forgotten she had never wanted to him again and ran out the front doors after him.

"WAIT!" She had lost him. She frantically looked up and down the sidewalk. Spotting a small mechanical dog rounding a building, she ran off again.

Maybe this would get him to turn around… "Professor Smith!" It worked. The man with the brown hair and radiant blue eyes turned around to face someone he thought was a student.

"May I help you—" That was as far as he got. His eyes grew wide and his mouth dropped open at the sight of the girl he was never supposed to see again. "M-miss Vortex? What are you doing here? Well, I mean, I know what you are doing here but what are you doing—"

He was interrupted by the same girl, the very one who decided she never wanted to see him again, throwing her arms around him.

--

Oh my…

Please read and review! Remember, the more reviews, the more I think you are interested in this story and thus the more motivated I will be to update!

Thanks for reading, as usual!

**-brigette (aka: Kaze-no-Tenshi89)**


	22. Excuse Me?

So I know it's been a LONG time… but yeah… oops lol… I feel so bad!!

Sorry guys! I haven't even had time to do art either. I've been lacking in my artistic leisures as of late because I'm just so busy with band and school stuff.

Without further ado… the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron. If I did, there would be a fourth season!

**Chapter 22 – Excuse Me?**

Cindy's mind was racing. Had she really done that? Is she really, right now, clinging to the man she never wanted to see again… almost as if she would die if she let go?

In a way, she felt just that.

But what was she going to say? How would she explain herself? It shouldn't be that big of a deal…I mean, she didn't come here for him! She came here for her professor, her chemistry department, her university!

…Didn't she?

--

James was at a loss for words. How was he supposed to react? The very same young woman he left behind, possibly to never see again, had now flung herself onto him, completely taking him by surprise.

Where was Marie? Usually she could get him out of things such as this… but then again, had there ever been anything like this before?

He was now thinking it was wrong of him to continue watching the University of Texas at Austin's presentation after he figured out that Cindy was presenting it. Hadn't he known it would cause nothing but trouble? Hadn't he known she would recognize him? However… he didn't think she'd actually come after him. After all, they were only friends for a short while… weren't they? It wasn't anything more…

Even for this genius, it was hard to grasp what was "right."

--

Cindy quickly pulled away from James, startling him a bit considering the strong hold she had had on him for almost a minute. She immediately flushed when she sensed that he was looking down at her. Averting her eyes, she tried to come up with an excuse for her odd actions.

"Well, you see, I was, you know, the convention, and well, I saw you, but I knew you never wanted to see me again, but I don't know, I just wasn't sure how to get your attention, I mean I did call your name, but I wasn't sure if you would run away once you saw it was me, so I didn't really have any other choice, so I just…" she trailed off.

He noticed the embarrassment that spread quickly across her face like wildfire in a dry forest. This forest wouldn't be dry forever, though, as Cindy suddenly broke into sobs.

Poor James already had no idea what to do about her showing up at Ohio State and the mysterious, but forceful, hug she gave him… what was he going to do now?

"Here… Cindy?" he started off cautiously. "Why don't we go back to my office and talk? Is… that okay?" He winced as he awaited another round of tears, but was surprised to find none. Just silence, a slight nod, and the hand of this unpredictable girl holding on to his arm.

--

"Cindy? CINDY!" Yoland yelled. "Cynthia Vortex? Where are you?" he kept yelling as he raced around the center trying to find his currently MIA chemistry student. Not even her do was in sight. "What am I going to do? We must leave right away!" he said aloud to himself, shaking his head in frustration.

Unbeknownst to him, the very girl he was looking for was not far from where he was. In fact, she was in a small, cramped office in a small house-like building right next door. He, however, wouldn't find that out in time.

--

"Cindy… I don't want to be rude… but what are you doing here?" James said in the politest way he could.

Cindy still glanced at his desk, noticing all the papers, envelopes, pens, and books that littered it. _How can he work on this thing?_

"Cindy?"

"Oh! I'm sorry… what?" Cindy flushed once again, embarrassed for not having heard his question.

"I just wanted to know what you're doing up here… that's all."

Cindy looked back down at the desk. "Well, you saw… I came here to present the universities findings about how trees react to—"

"Not that."

Cindy looked him in the eyes now. "…What?"

"I don't think that's it."

She looked astonished. The nerve of him! How dare he say something like that! He just wants her to spill her heart out and tell him she really came here because… because…

"Of course I came here for the chemistry convention! Why else would I come? My professor needed a student and I was the only one available on such short notice! Do you think I'm not good enough for this? Do you think someone else should have come but I just wanted to come for some OTHER reason?" Cindy continued to rant at a very shocked James.

"Th-that's not what I meant at all…" he tried to slip in somewhere in the middle of Cindy's rant, but unfortunately it was drowned out by Cindy's angry comments.

"The nerve of men these days!" Cindy concluded her rant, now standing up, hovering over James and his messy desk.

She continued to stare James straight in the eye until he couldn't take it anymore.

"What is going on! First you're hugging me, then you're crying, then you're yelling at me!" James couldn't take her violent mood swings. I mean, he already couldn't understand what she was REALLY doing here, let alone what's going on inside her head!

"Excuse me?" James got quiet… possibly a little scared too… "What are you insinuating? Do you think I'm crazy? That I came here to stalk you or something? Or that I wanted to travel all the way up here toMMPHF!"

That was all Cindy said, as James silenced her by crashing his lips upon hers.

--

Outside that very building, the car Cindy had ridden in for hours on end just the day before was now squealing by, headed back to where it came from.

--

Ahhh! A kiss? WHAT? lol

It might be short, but I'm finding I have more time. So review and I'll update! Heh

Thanks for reading!

**-brigette (Kaze-no-Tenshi89)**


	23. In Need of a Favor

So I felt the huge urge to update... heh

So here's another chapter for all of you guys for being such loyal and completely awesome reviewers and readers!

I also have received some questions about fanart recently and my answer is this: PLEASE! lol I would be sooo honored if anyone would like to draw fanart for my story! I have a few pictures myself but I honestly can't find them at the moment. If I do, I'll upload them ASAP!

My deviantART username is listed on my profile if you are interested in contacting me there.

Now on to the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron. If I did, there would be a fourth season!

**Chapter 23 –In Need of a Favor**

Eyes open wide in terror, Cindy pushed James away from her with all of her strength. "How dare you! I'm not just some random girl you can take advantage of whenever you want!" Flames engulfed her eyes and rage seemed apparent in every physical feature on her face.

James, however, couldn't help but smile.

"What the hell are you smiling at?"

He began to chuckle lightly to himself.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?" Cindy screamed in his face.

Now he began a full-out laughing spell.

Cindy couldn't take it anymore. With a frustrated scream she stormed out of his office and out of the building and began to walk. To where? How was she supposed to know that? She just wanted to get away from that man.

--

Cindy found herself sitting on a bench in the middle of an oval-shaped park about an hour later. It was late March now and things were finally starting to warm up. But Cindy found things weren't that warm… she had been outside for a while now with nothing but the light sweater she had been wearing under her lab coat.

"_Where's Goddard?"_ Cindy looked curiously around the park, up and down its many sidewalks leading to various parts of the campus. There were others in the park, some students were playing Frisbee, others studied together under thick blankets on the lawn. A couple passed by her holding hands as they walked down the path that spanned the longest length of the oval. _"I've heard about that…"_ She thought to herself, remembering one of the few details she had ever heard about Ohio State's campus. _"They say that if a couple holds hands and can walk down the entire path and not be interrupted, they'll be together forever…" _She sighed at the thought of finding someone she could be with for the rest of her life. Nothing seemed to be going right for her anymore.

At the far end of the park, she noticed two little robot dogs walking together down that very same path.

--

After Cindy had collected herself and made it back to the convention center, she tried to find Professor Yoland. She went back to the room where they had stored their stuff, but both the professor and all of their lab equipment was nowhere to be found. Walking quicker, she headed to the banquet room, but no luck.

"Excuse me, but have you seen a Professor Yoland?" Cindy asked the receptionist at the entrance. "He should have had a name tag on…"

"Well, let me see here…" The lady began to search through a list, her eyes peaking over the rims over her bottle-thick lenses. "Hm… it says here that he has checked himself and his student out. If you were looking to see his presentation, I'm afraid it was earlier this afternoon."

Cindy didn't listen to the end of the receptionist's sentence. Her heart had stopped when she heard that he had checked out. There's no way he could have left without her… he said they would be there a few DAYS… not a few HOURS! Without a second thought, she raced out of the center, realizing she had seen his car parked in the adjacent lot earlier that day. _"Of course he had a car to get here… I, however, had to use less conventional means…" _she grimaced, remembering her bus ride from earlier that day.

She reached the parking lot, but found it was completely full by now. Many other presentations were going on now, since it was now late in the afternoon, but she couldn't spot her professor's car. Terror swelled up inside Cindy at that moment. Nothing can be more frightening than being alone a thousand miles away from home without a way of getting back.

She thought about going back to the hotel, where luckily all of her clothes and things were, but soon decided against it. He wouldn't be there anyway. He didn't bring anything with him, so she was sure he had checked out.

There was only one person who could help her now… James.

--

Cindy stood outside his office door for an eternity, debating over and over again whether or not she should go in. Oh, how awkward it had been earlier! He had kissed her! The nerve of that guy! He had no right to do such a thing to her! Though she had thought about that kiss in the park earlier, the only conclusion she ever came to was that he did it to shut her up.

Oh how she hated men right now!

But he was her only hope… her only chance of getting back home if she didn't want to endure the horrors of an eternity-long bus ride…

First, however, she decided to make a phone call.

--

"Cindy? Oh my, how are you? I haven't heard from you in weeks!" Mrs. Vortex was full of excitement, finally getting the first call from her daughter in almost a month.

"I'm fine mom, don't worry. I've just been… a little busy, I guess." Cindy hadn't mentioned anything to her mother about James, nor did she to Jimmy's parents. She thought it was best left alone until things were certain…

"Did you end up doing anything for spring break, dear? You told me you just wanted to stay on campus but I found that hard to believe!" Mrs. Vortex continued happily.

"Well, I wasn't planning on anything, but I kind of ended up going to… Ohio."

"Ohio? It's March! It has to be freezing up there!" Her mother's happiness turned to surprise.

"It's not that bad. A little cool, but alright. My chemistry professor wanted me to present our university's presentation with him at the National Chemistry Convention at Ohio State, so I decided to come up here," Cindy explained.

Cindy couldn't tell over the phone, but her mother at a sly smile. "You? Alone in a different state with your professor? Oh Cindy, I didn't know you liked older men!" Her mother chuckled.

"Mother! It's not like that! He's old anyway! Gross! I can't believe you would think I'd fall in love with a PROFESSOR!" Cindy choked when she realized exactly what she had said. Good thing her mother couldn't see her face over the phone, otherwise, she would have probably had to spill the beans about James.

"I'm only kidding, Cindy. Well, I'm glad you called. I hope you have a nice spring break, honey! I have a shopping date with a few of my friends in a bit, so I'm afraid I'm going to have to catch up with you some other time. Please call me whenever you can again!"

"I will. Thanks mom." With that, Cindy slid her phone back into her pocket. She took one last deep breath and knocked on the office door.

_Now comes the hard part…_

--

James groggily lifted his head off of his desk, waking to the sound of a knock on his door. "Uh… please… come in," he said slowly.

The door opened but no one entered.

"Hello?" James called out, getting angry that someone might be playing a joke on him in the middle of his nap…

A foot appeared, then the dark outline of a face. His eyes were still trying to adjust to the light that was now seeping in through the open door, so everything was a dark shadow to him.

"Who is it?" He felt a little stupid asking that question, considering the person would probably think that he could see his or her face.

"I was hoping… well… you could help me."

His eyes at that instant had adjusted to the light and he realized that face belong to none other than Cindy Vortex.

"Help you… after what happened earlier?" James was astounded that she had come back to his office… and for help nonetheless!

"I'm… sorry… I was just so… I don't even know the word to describe it," Cindy tried to explain. "Please… you have to help me."

James sat up straight in his chair, trying to shake off any evidence that might reveal that he had been asleep (and could possibly still be). She noticed this to be an acknowledgment that he was listening, so she began.

"James… I didn't know what to do. My professor left me here and now he's heading back to Texas without me. I had no where else to go… Please, you have to help me get back. Otherwise, I'm stuck here and classes begin again on Monday!"

He noticed the distress in her voice, he could see it in her face. While it had been full of rage earlier, now it was completely different. She was alone, miles away from home, with no way of getting back. How could he not help?

"What can I do?"

Cindy sighed. "There's really only one thing you can do… drive me back."

"Cindy! I can't do that! I have classes to teach all this week! How can I possibly have time to drive you to Texas and back!"

"James! Please I have no other way of getting back!"

"There are things called buses, you know," James said, slightly annoyed.

"You would make me take a bus all the way back to Texas with a bunch of people I don't know? I'll get raped or something! Besides, how many hours is that? Like 25 or more?"

"Cindy, please, it's the only logical way of getting you back in time where I will still be able to teach my classes! We aren't on spring break like you are. Besides, I'm sure public transportation such as that won't be too unsafe!"

How comforting. "You know James, I thought I could ask you this favor, after everything that has happened. I'm sorry for having such a huge misconception about you."

Cindy once again walked out of his office in anger. Afraid that this would be his last chance, James went after her.

"Miss Vortex! Cindy! Please wait!" he called after her as she continued to walk farther and farther away from the building. She stopped suddenly and turned her head.

"Yes, Professor Smith?" she said sarcastically.

"I'll… I'll take you back."

--

Yay for longer chapters. I've been reading through some of my old chapters and have noticed tons of mistakes. One of these days when I have time I'll edit all those things out. I feel actually quite stupid having so many. Heh… it happens.

Update on former statement: I've edited my chapters! Yay!

Thanks for reading!

**brigette (Kaze-no-Tenshi89)**


	24. Public Transportation

Sorry for the long break. But… IT'S SUMMER! YAY! Expect very quick updates (probably weekly).

And I'm also sorry that some of my chapters have repeated first lines... I don't know why it's been doing that. I fixed all of those chapters, though!

Okay. Moving on.

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron. If I did, there would be a fourth season!

**Chapter 24 – Public Transportation**

"You know, public transportation doesn't seem so bad anymore. Rape would probably be better than this…" Cindy rolled her eyes and stared out the car window. Her comment was sarcastic of course.

Silence. The exact same thing that had been happening for two hours now.

"Are you EVER going to talk?" What the hell was wrong with him? She didn't force him to take her home… he offered willingly!

Didn't he…?

Oh, who cares! He was taking her back now. But…why wasn't he saying anything…?

James continued to stare blankly at the road, silence surrounding both of them. He didn't even want to turn on the radio. Silence is what he needed. Silence… in a time of crisis… yes… that always worked… or does it do the opposite?

"_Oh my god what am I supposed to do? I just left! Didn't tell ANYONE! I just LEFT! What's the staff going to think of me now? I'm a new teacher… they know why I got fired from my old school! And ha! I'm sure someone saw me driving away with a GIRL! The SAME ONE! Oh my god, what are they going to think? They'll just fire me! FIRE ME!"_

Those were the only thoughts James could think for two whole hours. Until, of course, his stomach started to do some talking.

"Um, James, can you please talk to me now? And where the hell are we?" Cindy forced herself out of the car and took a good look at her surroundings. "Katie's Home Cookin'? What the hell? We aren't even out of Ohio yet! I'm sure the food tastes like crap compared to the ACTUAL home cooking we get down in Texas!" Cindy seemed to be yelling at nobody and James just left her alone. Maybe she'd follow him in? Whatever, he wasn't really in the mood and could honestly care less. He just wanted something to eat.

--

"You know, this food isn't half bad for wanna-be southern cooking, eh?" Cindy took the last bite of mashed potatoes from her plate. James was half listening. Was it just him, or had she changed?

He glanced back up at her and noticed her cringing at the other people in the restaurant. The truckers, bikers, anyone else that was just hungry and wanted to eat. She looked at them as if she'd never seen someone like them before. What had happened? What made her have such a bad attitude…?

"So, did you join all these people in their "trucker" and "biker" possy or what? I mean, go ahead if you want to. I'm not stopping you. You seem to fit though. Dirty, kinda rugged and tired looking—"

He knew this would probably make things way worse. But since when did he care?

"What is wrong with you?" Cindy's eyes grew wide and her mouth hung a little open, drawn back by this sudden outburst from him.

"All you've been doing since we've met again is criticize me, make fun of me, and even criticize everything and everyone else! I'm sorry, but that's really not the Cindy I remember. So if you wouldn't mind, Miss Vortex, I'd appreciate it if you'd show a little less hostility towards me and more gratitude! I am driving you all the way back to freaking Texas, after all!"

Cindy was in shock. He hadn't talked for two whole hours and here he was, yelling at her. Telling her how to act! How dare he? Who does he think he is? He keeps trying to tell her what to do! He has no place to do that!

"Me? Act less hostile?" Cindy coolly replied. "Is it because I have no reason to act hostile? Or maybe because you think you're just oh so amazing, how could anyone act hostile toward you? How could anyone hate you? Hmm? IS THAT IT?"

"_What the hell!"_ James could think of no reason for why he was deserving this from her right now. "Okay, Cindy, I don't know what is going on with you, but I really think you shouldn't yell in the restaurant…!"

Cindy jumped up from the table and let out a cry of frustration as she stormed out of the restaurant.

Great.

"Cindy!" James jumped after her. He hadn't made it to the door before the waitress stopped him in his tracks. She simply pointed to his bill. _"Of course! Why can't things ever be as dramatic as they are in the movies…!"_ He threw her a twenty and continued out the doors.

Cindy sat on the sidewalk, staring out at the highway cars whizzing by.

"Have you calmed down at all…"

A glare.

"Guess not…"

"I'm going to find another ride."

James's eyes did a double take. "W-What?"

"I'm going to find another ride."

"But I've already driven you to the border! Qhy do you want to find a new ride _now?_" Yeah, he was upset that he let himself take her. But he already started, why can't he just take her the rest of the way…?

"I can't be near you anymore. It was silly for me to think you'd actually want to take me back home."

His heart stopped. _"Was she really saying this…?"_

Her eyes began to water. "Everything that I've ever done with you has been a complete disaster. If we hadn't become friends, you wouldn't have been fired. If I hadn't met you, I would actually be dating someone and perhaps thinking about a serious relationship! If I had, I wouldn't have spent my spring break coming all the way to Ohio with my stupid chemistry professor and this would have never taken place!"

All he could do was stand there and stare in disbelief.

"If I hadn't…. If I hadn't fallen completely… in love with you… my… my life wouldn't have fallen apart when you left…"

She… she loved him? But… how? She'd been so mean and ungrateful to him… yet… she loved him? James was so confused and torn up inside… he didn't know how to feel. And what was he supposed to do! She was just sitting on the sidewalk, crying.

"Cindy…I—"

"Just stop!" Cindy interrupted. "This is it, James. My whole life, I've wasted, depressed when you've left me. You've left me too much. And I can't take it anymore." She slowly helped herself to her feet. And for the first time in a long time, she took a good look at him. His messy brown hair hung slightly over his blue eyes. "You're different… yet… you're just the same. You look so much different now… so much more mature… but you're still the same old Jimmy I used to know. Once you leave, you don't come back. I can't live like that." She picked up her purse and walked away.

He was speechless. What had just happened… "W-Where are you going…!"

"Home."

A big Greyhound bus came rumbling up the road, headed for the "BUS STOP" sign across the street.

Everything seemed to be in slow motion.

The bus stopped.

The doors opened.

The driver asked her some questions.

She answered.

He nodded.

She turned around, took one last look at him.

He saw her make her way down the aisle.

She sat down next to the window.

She never turned to look at him.

--

As the bus pulled away, a man with messy brown hair and bright blue eyes stood there. Staring. Watching as the girl, that very same girl that had just told him she loved him, pulled away.

Possibly forever.

--

Ahh. The drama!

What's James going to do? She's pulling away… on PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION?

She could get raped!

Stick around and keep reading! Hopefully this story will wrap up sometime soon! (It will… I think…lol)

**-brigette (aka: Kaze-no-Tenshi89)**


	25. Thoughts and Memories

So I had started writing this chapter and someone at my house decided to be evil and just deleted it all. Well, it's more my fault because I didn't save it I guess... Stupid me...

I should have had this chapter up a few days ago, but luckily all that was deleted was the first little beginning part. It's not totally different, I remembered most of it.

Still, I apologize if this sucks.

Also, I want to thank you all for sticking by this story and reading it for the past two years! I've almost got 500 reviews and that is all thanks to you great readers! I appreciate all of the criticism and comments you have given me on this story. It means a whole lot to me because it's my first story on here and hopefully I'll be able to write better because of it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron. If I did, there would be a fourth season!

**Chapter 25 – Thoughts and Memories**

The sky was fading. Fading from the bright blues and whites that had so recently covered everything above him to those reds, pinks, and dark purples of sunsets.

How long had it been? A few seconds? Minutes? Hours?

…Days?

Silence. He could feel nothing but the hot pavement beneath his feet, so hot his shoes were practically worthless. But he didn't move.

What had it been? He searched his memory. Why had she left? Was it something he did? Something he said?

He did remember something… something after he had asked her to stop criticizing him…

"_Me? Act less hostile?" Cindy coolly replied. "Is it because I have no reason to act hostile? Or maybe because you think you're just oh so amazing, how could anyone act hostile toward you? How could anyone hate you? Hmm? IS THAT IT?"_

But what did he do? He offered to drive her back! He's risking his job… AGAIN… for her! Why is she being so rude and ungrateful? Whenever that thought crossed his mind… he remembered one of the last things she had said to him…

"_If I hadn't…. If I hadn't fallen completely… in love with you… my… my life wouldn't have fallen apart when you left…"_

James finally moved from the position he had been standing in for almost an eternity. He slowly made his way back to his car, glancing in the back seat. Goddard and Marie were still asleep in the backseat, sleeping next to Cindy's travel bag…

"_Great! What am I supposed to do now? She left her dog and her bag in my car! Well… Goddard can fly… I'll just give the bag to her and he can fly back home to her…"_

James started the car, bringing Marie and Goddard out of their deep sleep. Glancing around, Goddard knew something was wrong. James sensed what Goddard was feeling and turned around to talk to the mechanical dog. "Goddard… you'll see her soon. She… she just wants to go home by herself..." Goddard gave James a sad, lost look. But slowly, he laid his head back down next to Marie's and fell asleep. _"I better let him sleep… I'll send him home after he can recharge and get a good night's sleep at my apartment…"_

Coming to the highway entrance ramps, James stopped the car.

The right sign read "South." The left sign read "North."

James looked down the ramp to the right and with a great sigh, turned left.

--

"Euh… Goddard… stop licking me already…" Cindy's eyes didn't even open. She merely rolled over onto her other side and tried to fall back asleep. "Goddard… come on! It's not time to get up yet…" He wouldn't leave her alone. "Goddard!" She finally opened her eyes. "AH!"

It wasn't Goddard.

"Wha-What are you...! Ew! Get off me!" Unfortunately for Cindy, the passenger that had been sitting next to her was a stubborn sleeper. The licking? His drool, of course. "Oh, this is so disgusting!" She fumbled around for her purse, trying to keep the man from leaning back on to her and possibly giving her yet another bath in his drool.

"Aha! Got it!" She triumphantly retrieved a tissue from her purse and cleaned her arms off. She glanced around the dark bus. A few of the reading lights were on, illuminating some of the passengers that were awake. _"I don't blame them… it's hard to sleep well in these seats!" _Well, of course Mr. Drool next to her didn't have a problem sleeping on the bus...

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that the passenger across the aisle from her was awake, as well. Light was off, so she couldn't make out his face, but she could definitely tell one thing.

He was staring at her.

Cindy quickly looked away and stared out the window. _"Oh my god… that guy is staring at me…! How long has he been doing that…!"_

Pretending to just glance around the bus, curiously, she took another quick look at the man across the aisle.

He was still staring.

"Um… excuse me…. Can I help you, sir…?" Cindy bravely asked the man.

He just stared.

"_Uh… okay… this is really creepy…" _Cindy turned back to the window and tried to think of other things.

However, the only "other things" she could think of all had one thing in common: James.

--

"Goddard! Marie! Wake up!" James gently shook the two robot dogs. "We're back!"

James tiredly kicked the shoes off his feet and fell onto the couch. He turned on the TV, not caring what it was.

"_Did I do the right thing? Is she going to be okay? Something bad could happen… should I have followed her?"_

He couldn't clear his mind of her. Sure, something about her intrigued him, stirred up emotions he never even knew he had. But… did he love her?

The TV caught his attention_. "And now we will move on to our Mars special for tonight." _Oh, goodie! Scientific discoveries were of course James's favorite part of the evening news.

"_The scientists at NASA have released information that perhaps Martians do exist on the red planet. We go now to Cathy, live in Houston at the Johnson Space Center."_

"_Thank you, Steve. I'm here in Houston to talk to one of the lead researchers of this amazing discovery, Dr. Frank Towers. Dr. Towers, what exactly has your team discovered here?"_

"_Well, Cathy, if we move to the footage we have recently released I will show you."_

The screen was now full of various pictures of the surface of the planet, alternating between three different color photographs.

James was highly intrigued.

"_Now, if you look in the corner of this picture, you can see a strange rock formation, almost appearing to have arms and legs." _A large circle illuminated said object.

Another picture then filled the screen.

"_However, in this picture of the exact same location, the rock formation has moved! The next picture also shows this rock formation's movements."_

"_Mr. Towers, are you suggesting that this rock formation is, in fact, alive?"_

"_Well, Cathy, that is the suspicion…" _Frank Towers continued talking about the photographs with Reporter Cathy but James wasn't listening anymore.

"Rock-like Martians...?" James said aloud, perhaps to Marie and Goddard next to him. "It would make sense because of the lack of water… but…"

"_JIMMY NEUTRON!" a voice roared and seemed to come from the ground itself. "YOU SWORE NOT TO BRING WATER BACK TO OUR PLANET! NOW YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS MUST BE DESTROYED!"_

The breath in James's lungs caught, almost choking him. "Wha-what was that…!" Goddard and Marie looked up at him, concerned and curious…

"Why did I… who is… what…" James's eyes grew so wide that his head appeared to be shrinking around them. _"Jimmy Neutron...!"_

Another flash.

"_N-Neutron! W-What are you d-doing!" Cindy managed, her voice trembling._

"_Get out of here Cindy!" He yelled back to her. "You and the others get back to the rocket and go! Goddard, once everyone is in the rocket, set it on autopilot and DO NOT come back until Cindy is home! You should be able to get back to the rocket safely because the other Martians don't have any energy balls! So just avoid them as best you can!"_

"_But what about you! Jimmy, we can't just leave you here!" Cindy said to him, as tears began to well up, realizing the situation. "The energy is way too–"_

"_Just go, Cindy! Don't worry about me! I promise that I will see you again!"_

"_But—"_

"_GO!"_

James sat down, pressing his hands against his forehead and temples, trying to relieve the huge headache that had risen in his head…

"Why… why am I remembering these things…? I'm… I'm not… I can't…" James glanced at Goddard.

"Oh my god…" was all James could say before collapsing on the floor.

--

Well, I guess you are going to have to keep reading to find out what happens next!

This is a big thank you for all of you readers and reviewers that have been with me for so long! I appreciate everything!

**-brigette (aka: Kaze-no-Tenshi89)**


	26. Trouble in Texas

AHH! Over 500 reviews! Thank you so much guys! I know you guys have been waiting to know what happens next… so here you go!

But before that let me just apologize. Man, I didn't know how atrocious some of my grammar errors were! Jeez, I feel awful for making you suffer. I'll go back and fix them soon.

Update: I've fixed them! Well, the ones I caught at least… xD

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron. If I did, there would be a fourth season!

**Chapter 26 – Trouble in Texas**

"_Oh, thank god! Only 50 more miles until I get back to Austin!" _All it took was that small road sign to bring Cindy out of the wreck she had been in only hours before. _"I can't believe I forgot Goddard though… and all my clothes! I was just so… I don't even have a word to describe it… My emotions just kind of took over me and then the next thing I knew… I was sitting on this bus next to Mr. Droolface here…" _Cindy cringed to herself, remembering her wonderful neighbor. Thank god he was awake now and not drooling all over her arm once again!

The man that had been staring at Cindy ceased his odd behavior a few hours earlier. She still hadn't gotten a good look at him, not really wanting to be caught staring at a potential rapist.

As Cindy's mood perked up, however, he must have noticed it as well. She noticed that the staring returned out of the corner of her eye and Cindy went back to feeling uncomfortable. _"Seriously, what is WRONG with that guy? This whole 'public transportation' thing is really starting to creep me out…"_

It had been about a day since the bus had left Ohio, so it was still a little light out. Cindy decided to play some road games with herself for the remainder of the trip in order to get her mind off the man that had been staring at her. She was already up to about 24 states when the bus driver came over the speakers. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are about 10 minutes away from our next stop, the University of Texas at Austin. If this is your stop, please have all of your belongings reading to go as to not delay the bus from its routine schedule. Thank you."

As Cindy started to put what little she had out (a comb, some tissues, and a mirror) back into her purse, she noticed she wasn't the only one getting ready to get off the bus. The man that had been staring at her no longer was staring but had his back to her, packing up all his belongings into his large backpack.

The bus finally came to a stop on the side of the road that led to the main entrance of the campus. Cindy and a few other passengers stood up and made their way to the front of the bus. Most were probably returning to campus from spring break early.

"Ah! Warmth!" Cindy was overjoyed to finally be able to take off the sweater she had been wearing the whole trip. Not only had it been a little chilly in Ohio, but the bus driver of course loved extreme AC. Just her luck, of course.

Cindy hadn't felt better in her whole life. She was finally off of that horrible form of public transportation, walking back to the dorm she called home. Nothing could destroy that moment.

Except if she was being followed…

--

James woke up, finding himself in his own bed. When had he gone to bed?... He couldn't remember much of anything from last night. He had been watching TV… something about… what was it? Mars! That's right… something had happened. His head hurt once again.

Goddard heard James moving in his bedroom and slowly walked in, Marie in tow. "Goddard… Marie… man, I had some weird dreams…" Goddard and Marie simply looked at one another, concerned. "Do you… know what happened to me last night…?"

Goddard's screen flipped up. "You don't remember?" it read. James looked at him, slightly. "Remember wha—" The headache was back. This time, it was more intense than the times before. James closed his eyes and clutched his head, letting out a cry of pain. "Marie! Get me something…!" Marie barked an agreement and ran off to the bathroom to find him some pain reliever.

As James sat in bed, still in pain, Goddard knew something was happening to him. Just like last night. Something had happened to him after watching the special on Mars. Goddard could only figure that he had perhaps remembered something… something important…

Marie had come back, Excedrin in, well, mouth. James quickly took the pill and relaxed against his pillows, closing his eyes and hoping for his headache to go away. "Goddard… You should head back to Cindy. I'm sure she's back in Texas by now. She's probably wondering if you are okay." James didn't even open his eyes. Even though James couldn't see it, Goddard nodded in understanding. Cindy probably missed him and needed him… not to mention the fact that he missed her.

Goddard gave James a longing look, nonetheless. Sensing the dog's eyes on him, James sighed. "They were just dreams Goddard… nothing more…"

The mechanical dog let out a small, defeated whine. With one last look at Marie and James, he headed out the front door.

It was already rather late in the day, but having built-in rockets would get him home in only an hour. He knew that something had happened… something that James did not want to admit. Now, he might never know what exactly had happened to him last night…

--

Cindy flung the door to her dorm room open with a huge sigh of relief. The place was dirty, things were thrown everywhere, dirty plates and cups were all over the floor. And she loved it.

"Nothing feels better than coming home, does it, Goddard?" Cindy looked happily down to her side, only to find her mechanical companion not there. _"Of course… How stupid of me…"_

What was Cindy going to do first? Take a shower, of course! Nothing could feel as good as a nice, hot shower after a long, drool-filled bus ride.

After she had showered, pigging out and watching TV sounded like the best thing to do. She had finished making her two sandwiches when there was a knock on the window. "Goddard!" Cindy threw open the window and Goddard flung himself on top of her, licking her face all over. "I had no idea when you were going to be back! Is everything okay? I mean… how's James doing?" Right as Goddard was going to explain everything that had happened at the apartment, a knock came. This time, it wasn't from the window. It was from the door.

"Who could that be…? Cindy shrugged and opened the door. "Can I help you…?" It was rather dark in the room, as she had been setting up to pig out and watch TV all night, so she couldn't really see his face.

"Yes, well, um, do you happen to have a phonebook? I need to make an important phone call and no one else seems to be in their rooms at the moment." Cindy hesitated, not really wanting to let the man come inside.

"Well, yeah, um, let me go get it for you…" Cindy headed back into the room to find the phonebook she had kept in one of her dresser drawers. Goddard stared at the man from across the room. The man didn't seem to notice him, so he started to walk slowly into the room.

Something wasn't right… and Goddard knew it. He had to contact Marie. He began filming all the movements the man made, waiting… cautiously…

But the man started to head in the same direction Cindy had and Goddard knew he hadn't come here for just a phonebook. He had already walked past Goddard and Goddard ran to catch up. Cindy screamed. Goddard let out a huge growl and went on the defensive. The man had grabbed Cindy and covered her mouth. Goddard flung himself on the man and tried to bite his arms to let go of Cindy. But the man was too strong. He flung the mechanical canine of and kicked him against the wall, temporarily disabling the dog. With his only obstacle out of the way, the man left the dorm room, dragging Cindy out into the dead of night.

--

That wasn't too short. You guys are getting quicker updates so no complaining! :P

Thank you guys so much for reading and reviewing! I love each and every one of you!

**-brigette (aka: Kaze-no-Tenshi89)**


	27. Into the Light

Hey guys!

This chapter might make you hate my story.

Probably because it sucks or was what you weren't expecting or is just totally lame.

Sorry!

Moving on…

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron. If I did, there would be a fourth season!

**Chapter 27 – Into the Light**

Marie's message alert beeped, catching both herself and James off guard. "What is it, girl?" Marie lifted up her screen. It read "1 New Message from Goddard." "Go ahead, play it," James consented. They saw it all. The man entering the room and heading for Cindy, Cindy's scream, the man grabbing her, the filmer (Goddard) attacking the man, and finally the man kicking Goddard into the wall. After that, it was all static and then black.

"Oh my god…" James couldn't believe what he had just seen. "Cindy's in trouble! Goddard must be disabled…" He jumped up before realizing exactly where he was. "We've got to call someone… anyone! Someone had to have seen or heard what was going on!"

Marie gave James a worried look. Her screen typed out "But it's spring break. The campus is almost empty."

James had forgotten that aspect. "But… the police! Can't we get in contact with them?"

Marie's screen typed out something else. "No use. They don't know what either of them look like. We are going to have to help her."

"But we are all the way in Ohio!" But James had just remembered something… "Marie! Do you still have that teleporting device I installed on you a few years ago?"

"Yes, but I only think we could squeeze one teleportation out of it." Marie gave James an apologetic look.

"That's fine! We just need to get there! We'll worry about getting back later!" James ran around the room, gathering a few small gadgets he had kept over the years to help the cause. "I think it's safe to say we have to teleport to her dorm room. Let's go, Marie!"

A bright, blue light engulfed the young man and his mechanical dog, whisking them off to their destination.

--

"Ouch, you little bitch!" The man screamed in pain from a rather unpleasant kick to the shins by a very angry, former karate master.

"I would have aimed higher if I wasn't all tied up!"

"Well, let's just hope you stay right where you are then, hmm?" The man gave Cindy a tiny smirk.

The room was dark. The only light that came in through a small window was to the right of where Cindy was tied up. From what she could make out, the room appeared to be a hotel room. A rather large bed filled up most of the space; a dresser with a small TV on top sat in front of the bed. The door was along the wall to her left. Unfortunately, it was too far away for Cindy to have any chance of escaping…

"What do you want with me anyway?"

"Always to the point, aren't you?" At that moment the man moved ever so slightly, but just enough so that Cindy could immediately recognize the clothes he was wearing.

"You… You're from the bus!" Cindy knew this man was creepy but… what the hell!

"Very good, Cynthia!"

"_So my observations were correct on the bus… not only is he a creeper but… wait a second!"_

"How the HELL do you know my name!"

"Oh, Cynthia, I always thought you were smarter than your other friends… perhaps even that Jimmy." Cindy's whole body froze. "But really… after all this time you never noticed?"

Slicked back hair. Buck teeth. Expensive clothes. Corny accent.

"Oh my god… Eustace Strych?" Okay, this really wasn't happening. No way. Nope. She saw the last of that bastard on graduation day and swore she would never set eyes on his ugly little face again.

"Once again, good job, Cynthia! Though I am a little heartbroken you didn't recognize me on the bus…" He did a little fake pout and Cindy almost threw up in her mouth.

"Sorry, I don't like to look at ugly creepers on the bus for very long."

"Why, Cynthia! That hurts. But really… I should probably tell you why you are here."

Cindy knew this wouldn't be good.

"Throughout junior high and high school, I believe the two of us were more common than you would like to think."

Okay, what the hell. "What… what are you talking about?" This was just weird. First, she has to sit near a creeper on the bus for more than 24 hours, then she gets abducted by, of all people, that bastard Eustace Strych! Now he's saying they're similar?

"Ever since that day Jimmy disappeared, I think we both knew he wasn't really 'gone' like everyone else believed. He always managed to escape whatever I could throw at him, so I was sure he could escape those stupid Martians again."

Eustace began pacing the room. "Now Cynthia, you know me. I like getting what I want. In fact, I always get what I want. But you know what that does? It makes me want more."

"Okay… I'm not really quite sure I know what you are getting at… except that there is NO way in hell you are raping me!"

Eustace stopped his pacing. He looked over at his captive with a look of disbelief. Then laughter. Laughter so harsh Cindy could have sworn it was piercing right through her own soul.

"You sure are the naïve one, aren't you?" Now Cindy was extremely confused…

"I'm rich, Cynthia. Filthy rich! I probably don't have to work a day in my life and I could still get by comfortably, all thanks to my dear old father, god rest his soul. But you see, that isn't good enough for me."

"_What the hell could this guy want? He probably killed his own father to get his inheritance money…"_

"I want power! You've known that since we were just kids, haven't you? But money doesn't always buy you power these days…" Eustace sighed and looked out the window. "Though he has always been my sworn enemy, Jimmy, I will admit, does have the intellect and the genius to create just about whatever he pleases… and I want that ability."

"Um, Eustace, I think it's pretty much something you are born with. If I remember correctly…" Cindy couldn't help but laugh, "you failed Algebra I three times and Chemistry twice! How the hell do you expect to be as smart as someone like Jimmy?"

Wincing a little at his unpleasant memories of failure, Eustace turned back towards Cindy. "That, my dear, is where you come in."

--

"This place is a mess!" A table was overturned, trash covered the floor, a floor lamp had fallen over on its side.

"Bark, bark!" Marie had found Goddard, lying in a heap, still disabled. Marie laid down next to her friend and began to whine.

"It's okay, Marie. Once we find Cindy and return her home safely, I'll fix Goddard as good as new!" James pet his mechanical dog reassuringly.

James reached into his pocket and brought out his miniature tracking device, similar to one he installed on Marie. He selected "Cynthia Vortex" and waited. Nothing.

"Not found? What the heck! I improved this thing not too long ago to be state of the art! Great, well that was a waste of time…!" James angrily threw the gadget on the ground and cursed its existence.

"Well, Marie, it's as I feared. It seems the person we're dealing with has more tricks up his sleeve than we thought… he somehow made her un-trackable…"

Marie slumped over and whined.

"But that doesn't mean we can't find her! We'll just have to do this the old fashioned way! Now… there has to be something in here that will tell us where she's been taken to or who abducted her…"

"Marie, fingerprint analyzer please!" Marie barked in agreement and retrieved the device from her storage.

"I'm sure that whoever abducted her touched something…"

James began scanning everything. Tables, chairs, door handles. "Cynthia Vortex, Cynthia Vortex, Cynthia Vortex, come on! Did Cindy just run her hands over everything in this goddamn room?"

Marie looked up James, slightly worried. "I'm fine, girl… just… frustrated…"

"There has to be something we missed…" Then it clicked. "Goddard!"

James ran over to the disabled dog and quickly ran the fingerprint analyzer of the canine. The only name he didn't recognize belonged to a…

"Eustace Strych…?" And just like that, another searing headache struck James by surprise, causing him to double over in pain.

--

That's all for now!

Hopefully this story has gotten a little more interesting?

Anyway, please read and review! I really appreciate it!

Thanks for reading!

**-brigette (aka: Kaze-no-Tenshi89)**


	28. Of Greedy Plots and Blackmail

Hey guys! I noticed a lot of people didn't read or review from last week… was it really that bad? I promise it gets better!

I need to make sure I haven't completely ruined this story... Not a whole lot of people reviewed last time… so I guess I'll just assume that it was okay and continue it? Well too bad because I did! lol

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron. If I did, there would be a fourth season!

**Chapter 28 – Of Greedy Plots and Blackmail**

James continued to hold his head in pain as Marie looked on worriedly. "I… I don't get why I'm remembering all of these things… These can't be mine…"

He just didn't understand. These couldn't be his… It was just too weird… He knew Cindy was so convinced that he was this "Jimmy" she had always talked about, and sure, he even believed it a bit himself. But… actually having memories of his… now that was just too bizarre.

"Maybe… maybe all this stuff she's been telling me about this Jimmy guy has finally gotten to me. She just wants me to be him so bad… maybe these memories are all just fabricated by my own mind…"

Marie knew this wasn't good. He was heading down a road she wasn't sure he should be following. Knowing she didn't really have the time or patience at the moment, she had to remind him of the situation at hand.

Her screen flashed, catching James's attention. "We've got to find Cindy!" it read.

"Ah! Cindy!" James's scrambled to his feet, slightly embarrassed for losing his focus. "We've got to find out where this 'Eustace Strych' took her…" Marie nodded in agreement. "Now, I bet this guy didn't expect me to bring this!" James whipped out a device from his back pocket. "Come to think of it… I didn't expect myself to bring this either… How did that even get in there…" Marie simply rolled her robotic eyes at her master. Sure, he was a genius. But sometimes… she just wasn't so sure.

"Anyway. Now that we have a name, we can punch it in to this device to see if he's made any recent purchases! Do you remember when I designed this for Lt. Roberts at the police station? Bet he didn't know I made a copy…" James chuckled slightly to himself, applauding himself for developing such an invention. "Anyway, he could have rented a car, gotten a hotel room, who knows!" James suddenly stopped in his tracks. _He got a hotel room? Okay, James, let's really not start thinking about THAT… then again… I don't know this guy… he could be a rapist… or a murderer… Oh my God we have to find Cindy!_

Throughout James's train of thought, he made some weird facial contortions that made Marie more confused than ever. His mind was certainly a mystery.

James hurriedly punched in "Eustace Strych" and immediately received results. "Okay… his most recent purchases occurred at Wendy's, Home Depot, and…" The breath caught in James's throat. "Happy Stays Motel…"

--

"Okay, you creep, just tell me what is going on!" Cindy had had enough. Eustace was really starting to get annoying. She was already pissed as hell that he kicked her dog, abducted her, and tied her to a chair in some dark hotel room. Now he had the nerve to bring Jimmy into this! And say she was part of his plan, nonetheless!

"For a while now, Cynthia, I've been searching. Searching not only for Jimmy, but even for someone remotely _like _him. You've obviously noticed that I have failed in doing so."

"Well, that's not a surprise…" Cindy mumbled.

Eustace gave her an annoyed look, but continued on. "I had recently been visiting some relatives in Tennessee… my rather… primitive… relatives…" he said with a sneer. He was still the same snotty boy she grew up with, that was for sure.

"I had gotten into a fight with my father because he had decided to force me to stay in a guest room! Without my own bathroom! I just couldn't believe it. My aunt must be one of the most inconsiderate people I know… not even giving a guest in her own home their own personal bath!"

This man was nuts. Cindy truly felt sorry that his aunt had to be related to such a person.

"I decided to throw a tantrum, which usually always makes me get my way. I hopped onto a bus, despite its lack of cleanliness, planning to get off at the next stop. But something caught my eye… a certain blonde young woman sitting across the aisle from me." Eustace was now staring Cindy straight in the eyes. She couldn't necessarily see it, but she felt his gaze piercing her, and she did not like it.

"Now, when I saw you, I knew you hadn't recognized me. If you had, you surely would have stormed off the bus at that very instant. But no… something else was troubling your mind. I could see it in your face. You looked as if you had just fought with someone… someone you care about, yet… you seemed to not care at the same time. Growing up with you, Cynthia, I only ever knew you to have that look on your face after fighting with a certain boy whose name happened to be Jimmy Neutron…"

Cindy did not want to say a word. She tried to hard to keep her mouth shut, but her mouth wanted to blurt out the most horrible things at this man. In the struggle between mind and mouth, a tiny gasp escaped her lips.

"What's this? …Have I hit a nerve? Something you'd like to share, Cynthia?" Even though Cindy couldn't see it, Eustace was grinning with delight.

"No," Cindy said simply. Eustace's grin slowly faded.

"Continuing on, I knew that you must have recently been in contact with Jimmy Neutron, or possibly someone like him. I've known you for a while, Cynthia, and only the genius-y, show-off types really get on your nerves. I knew I was on to something, but I couldn't just talk to you right then and there. You wouldn't tell me anything, I was sure of it. So what else was I to do, but follow you all the way back here and kidnap you?"

"_Are you kidding me? Of course there are other options you could have chosen! Such as, well, I don't know, not STALKING ME!" _Cindy sure was angry now, knowing that he followed her all the way back here just so he could dig up some dirt on Jimmy…

"Oh, Cynthia… I know you probably don't want to give your dear old Jimmy up, but you frankly do not have any other option. You are the only one that knows where he is, and I need him as a slave, a slave that will bring me more money than you could ever imagine!" Eustace was pacing the room again, but still staring at her, of course. "No one knows you are here, Cynthia. Your poor dog is out cold and no one was around on campus to hear your pathetic screaming. You can wipe that silly look of hope and determination off of your face, now."

Okay, that was it. Oh, how Cindy would have _loved _to just tear him limb from limb right now. Too bad her many years of karate didn't teach her how to untie knots when being tied to a chair in the dark while your captor is constantly staring at you and could possibly whip out a gun at any given moment...

--

"Well… this is it…" James and Marie stood in front of the Happy Stays Motel, not quite sure what to do next. "I guess we should, uh, go find out what room he's staying in…" James headed for the lobby and Marie reluctantly followed, scared of what awaited them once they found them…

A small, round man sat at the main desk, typing away on a computer. He seemed completely oblivious that someone was in need of help and that it was his job to help them.

"Um… excuse me?" No response. James tried again, this time louder. "Excuse me?"

"Can I help you?" The man didn't look up and didn't stop typing.

"Yeah… um… I'm supposed to be meeting a friend here. He said to meet him at his room. His name is Eustace Strych," James lied through his teeth. "Could you perhaps give me his room number?"

"We aren't supposed to do that, sir." The man still did not look up.

"Can't you just make an exception? I'm really in a hurry and I've got to see him right away!"

"I'm sorry, sir. You could call him if you would like." That's definitely the last thing he wanted to do. But then, the light bulb in James's brain flicked on.

"You know, Gregory," James read from the man's name tag, "your boss may not like the fact that you've been rather occupied this whole time and are failing to help a potential customer."

The man stopped typing and looked up at James.

"Sir, you aren't blackmailing me, are you?" The receptionist named Gregory looked at him, both curiously and annoyed.

"Of course not, sir! I'm not a man to sink that low! I just would like to make sure that your motel runs as smoothly as possible… if you get my drift." James gave the man a look that meant he was serious.

Gregory glanced around cautiously before responding. "Fine. But not a word to anyone!"

James smiled in agreement. "Who would I tell?"

"Right… anyway… your friend is in room 231."

"Thanks!" James gave the man a quick pat on the back before racing off, mechanical dog in tow.

--

So, don't hate me for cutting it short. Well, it's not that short. I just don't want to get too ahead of myself and then realize the world wants to kill me for ruining the story…

Anyway… PLEASE REVIEW! The less you review, the less encouraged I feel to update. I want to make sure you guys are enjoying the story!

**-brigette (aka: Kaze-no-Tenshi89)**


	29. A Promise Kept

I don't know if you guys like these "quicker" updates or not. I mean either you wait forever but have the time to read it or I update so fast that you might miss a chapter ; Please let me know what you prefer!

Also, I noticed I've lost quite a few readers since I've been updating quicker (not the amount of reviews, but from the amount views). So either my story is sucking now that I'm updating more or I'm updating too fast and losing some of my readers… Please let me know if there's a problem!

So, I made this chapter a little longer than my recent ones since I might not be updating for a bit. (read my notes at the bottom)

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron. If I did, there would be a fourth season!

**Chapter 29 – A Promise Kept**

"Well, Cynthia, I think it's about time we put my plan back into action! Sorry, my dear, but I'm going to have to silence you once again. Such a pity, you really do seem to enjoy speaking your mind, especially to protect those you love…" Cindy tried to so hard to squirm and wriggle as much as she could to not let Eustace gag her again. She had to endure it the whole way to this damn motel and she didn't want to go through it again. At least this time she wasn't blindfolded as well…

"Oh, and I'm going to have to blindfold you again, as well. We wouldn't want you peeking or waking up the other hotel guests, now would we?" Eustace had that sly smirk back on his face, his victory smirk.

"Now, instead of taking a cab again and spending ten minutes convincing the cabdriver that I am merely leading you to a secret place for our anniversary (while slipping him a few 20s), I was able to contact one of my chauffeurs, who will be here anytime to pick us up and take us to… oh well, I wouldn't want to spoil it." Eustace's voice was full of glee and excitement. He truly enjoyed kidnapping people, torturing them, and all for his own good, of course. It made Cindy sick with fury and rage.

All Cindy could do at that point was clench her teeth (as much as she could due to the gag) and only imagine what the hell he was going to do next. She could feel that he was untying her from the chair, but her hands were still tightly bound together. As she stood up, Eustace must have noticed her tensing, most likely about to kick in the direction he was now standing in.

"Now that you're relatively free, I'm going to have to warn you, Cynthia, that on our way to this motel, I decided to pick up a little something that I knew would make you obey me." Eustace didn't have to tell her what it was; she could feel it digging into her back. She wanted to scream, wake up the entire motel if she had to. She didn't care at that point. She just wanted someone to find her, to get her out of this horrible mess.

--

James sprinted down the second floor walkway, searching, searching for room 231. _"215, 216, oh, come on!"_ Of course it had to been all the way at the end of the eternity-long walkway.

He immediately began banging on the door, praying to God that someone would answer. After no less than three seconds of no one answering, James turned around, his body lapsing into extreme panic mode. _"What if he's doing awful things to her at this very moment and just won't open the door…? Oh, god…!" _But just as James was going to try another round of knocking and banging, and perhaps yelling this time, he heard what sounded like a struggle in the stairwell next to the room he was trying so hard to get into.

James immediately flew the stairwell door open and, glancing down to the first floor, saw a mass of wavy blonde hair leaving through the doorway that led outside.

"CINDY!" James screamed, not caring who heard him at this point. But she didn't stop. The door slammed shut, making the entire building shake. James quickly bounded down the steps, missing a few here or there, and tried so hard to not fall and break his neck in the process.

As James made it outside to the motel parking lot, he once again saw that mass of blonde hair being pulled into the back seat of a rather fancy limousine.

"STOP!" James tried to get the attention of whoever was driving the limo. He ran up to the car and tried to open the door but it was locked. He heard the car shift into drive and began beating on the windows to get them to stop. "EUSTACE!"

Inside the limo, Cindy wished so bad that she could talk, even see! _"Someone's yelling for Eustace…? Maybe they know him and saw what he was doing to me! Maybe they're going to save me!! Oh, please, please, God!" _Eustace must have sensed the thoughts running through her mind and slapped her across the face rather violently, causing her to jerk sideways and hit her head against the door.

"WE STOP FOR NO ONE! DRIVE!" Eustace screamed to his chauffeur.

Outside, James once again watched as Cindy drove off without him. However, he wasn't going to let her get away. Not this time.

--

"Drive as fast as you can, Alfred! Someone who knew me saw us at the motel and could be calling the police!" Eustace yelled to his chauffeur, slightly worried inside that his plan wasn't going exactly according to plan. "What idiot would be up this late wandering around a motel, anyway?" He was obviously becoming rather furious at this point.

Cindy was helplessly lying against the limo door, silently crying at the amount of pain she was currently in. She couldn't believe what was happening. This was all wrong. She was supposed to be in her dorm room. Fast asleep by now, happy to finally be home, trying to finally get over James…

"_James… I wonder what he would do if he saw me like this… after what I did, he probably wouldn't care…" _Cindy felt like a lost cause. Not only was she in this horrible situation, but she had confessed that she had fallen in love with her professor, something she never should have done. _"He obviously didn't feel the same way… if he had… he probably would have come after me… He doesn't even think that he might be Jimmy in the least bit… I can't believe how stupid I have been… It's all my fault I'm in this situation…" _Depression was something Cindy knew she had to avoid, especially since the pain she was experiencing could knock her unconscious at any given moment. But she just couldn't seem to get herself out of the slump she was in. What was there to be hopeful about anymore?

_--_

Back in the motel parking lot, James immediately turned to Marie, "Marie, fly-cycle mode, please!" James might have been 6 feet tall, but Marie was more than capable of carry the young man.

As James and Marie flew off in the direction the limo had gone, James once again whipped out his tracking device. He quickly typed in "Eustace Strych" with one hand, making sure he still had a good grip on his mechanical dog.

"I found them, Marie!" James yelled excitedly. "They're about two miles up ahead of us on this road!"

Marie barked in understanding and took off at a faster pace, trying to catch up to the limousine.

--

"No, we're taking a left, Alfred! I don't want to go THERE!"

Cindy wasn't in as much excruciating pain as she had been, so she was finally able to sit up. The impact had fortunately loosened her blindfold, and now it hung slightly below her eyes, but just enough to let her see what was going on around her.

"But, sir, I thought that was the whole reason you went to that motel—"

"No, you twit! We're going to the place I originally told you about on the PHONE!" Eustace reached through the open window that led to the front seats of the limo and grabbed the steering wheel. "You are MY servant! You listen to ME when I tell you to do something!" Eustace screamed in his chauffeur's ear and immediately jerked the wheel to the left.

"Sir! Please!" Alfred screamed, terrified at what his master was doing.

The limo swerved violently to the left and Cindy, unable to brace herself since her hands were tied, flew back into the door to her right, slamming her head once again. This time, it wasn't simply a searing pain in her head. She could feel her mind wanting to slip into unconsciousness…

--

James and Marie were approaching the limo just as they saw it swerving violently the left. What James and Marie could see that those in the limo couldn't was the car coming straight for the left side of limo.

James's heart stopped. "CINDY!" Marie barked as loud as she could and started descending as fast she could to get herself and her master to the limousine before…

--

Cindy could feel it all in slow motion. Her mind was already half conscious but she was still aware of what was happening around her. The left side of the limo began to buckle in. She was on the right side and could see the left side of the limo rushing in towards her. She looked out the window to her left and saw the phone pole rushing towards her from the right. The world was closing in on her and she could do nothing to stop it.

Suddenly, everything came to a halt. Cindy was bleeding. Badly. She could feel the blood dripping down the side of her face. Her legs had gashes all over them. Cindy's hands were still tied behind her back, but that certainly didn't help her situation. She was trapped between the two sides of the car that had buckled in around her.

Outside the car, she could hear the faint yell of someone, but everything was starting to get blurry. Sounds started to seem like they were miles away. She wasn't even aware when someone (or something) had forcefully ripped off the door next to her and grabbed her out of the place she was sure she would die in.

--

"Cindy! Oh, god, please wake up!" James quickly took the gag out of her mouth and removed her blindfold. He began ripping up the cloth and tying it around her major wounds.

Cindy began moving ever so slightly, her eyes tried so hard to open, but they just couldn't. All Cindy could do was let out a breathless, "W-Who…" before coughing violently.

"Cindy, it's me, James! Please hang on!" Cindy already had trouble breathing, but the response she got from the person that had her wrapped so tightly in his arms made the breath catch in her lungs even more.

"Please don't try to talk! Just… Just… Just please stay with me!" James frantically looked around him. There were a lot of people standing around him, but he couldn't do a thing until the ambulance got there. The other two people that were in the limousine had been taken out by other bystanders and were being looked after, as well. The other car fortunately didn't receive as much damage and the only person in it was alright.

"But… but why…" Cindy breathed in heavily, still unable to open her eyes, "why did you…"

James breathed in a deep sigh. It was either now or never. Cindy's chances of making it were slim. She was losing too much blood and she received a horrible blow to the head. He had to let her know.

"Cindy… Seven… Seven years ago I… I made a promise to you… and I had to keep that promise. The promise that I would… see you again… I couldn't live with myself if I didn't… because Cindy… I… I love you…" James glanced down at the badly injured girl he held in his arms, tears welling up in his eyes, threatening to cascade down his cheeks at any moment. "Please don't leave me…"

Cindy let out a smile sigh and smiled ever so slightly, finally feeling for the first time in seven years that everything was going to be okay.

"J-Jimmy…"

--

AH! What's going to happen? Will Cindy be okay? Will we ever find out what happened to Jimmy seven years ago?

Stay tuned to find out! Review and I will love you forever! (and also most likely update sooner) )

I won't be able to update for a couple weeks after this because I update on weekends and I have a wedding to go to next weekend. But I'll try my hardest if you review nice! (as stated above)

Thanks for reading!

**-brigette (aka: Kaze-no-Tenshi89)**


	30. A Smile Can Cure Anything

So that ended up being a lot longer than I expected… sorry! I got really busy. Marching band summer sessions have kept me away from writing and weekends have been filled with things I didn't get to do during the week! So I apologize!

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron. If I did, there would be a fourth season!

**Chapter 30 – A Smile Can Cure Anything**

Murmuring… That's all Cindy could make out. Everything seemed so distant, so far away. She tried to open her eyes, but the only thing that would pass through them were the thousands of bright, white lights that surrounded her.

But there she was. She could see herself… standing right in front of her! Was this a mirror? She slowly reached out her hand to touch whoever or whatever was in front of her and realized that the other "her" was doing the exact same thing. As their fingers touched, a spark of electricity jolted throughout Cindy's entire body.

As she stood there, frozen from the amount of paint had just entered her body, she began to feel herself being pulled quickly away from her other self.

"Cindy!"

Someone was calling out to her. Was it her other self? No… it didn't sound like her own voice… did it? She felt like she had been in that blinding white place for so long… maybe she had forgotten the sound of her own voice?

No… this definitely was not her own voice… it was too deep… too—

"Cindy!"

But where was it coming from? There was no one else, nothing else there. Her other self had completely disappeared…

"Cindy!"

She began to fall. A bottomless pit, she had no idea where it ended. Everything was white, but no shadows existed. Did she even exist?

With another shock that shook her entire body, she new she hadn't just found the ground.

--

"Cindy!"

Cindy's eyes flew open, her entire body convulsing, pleading, begging for air. Her breaths were short and raspy, her eyes wide open with fright.

"Oh my god, Cindy! J-just hold on! Please try to calm down!"

Cindy could hear all the machines whirring and beeping all around her. She could barely hear what the person was telling her… but everything was so blurry… she had no idea where their voice was coming from…

She suddenly felt two large hands grip her arms, steadying them from the tremors she felt surging throughout her entire body.

Then, everything was calm. No more shaking. No more beeping. No more yelling.

"…Cindy?" It was a soft voice. A familiar voice perhaps… She could feel a large, but rather shaky hand grip her own.

Shaggy brown hair… bright blue eyes… it all came in to focus. Cindy could feel her entire body relaxing even more.

"Where…" Cindy tried to get out, but could only finish her sentence with a few violent coughs.

"Please! Don't try to talk." She could feel his grip tightening even more around her weak hand. "You're at the hospital. You don't remember anything that happened?"

Cindy closed her heavy eyelids to think, jog her memory. There was a car… and a young man, about her age… she new him… but he was up to no good… she remembered the smirk on his face. Eustace! That was his name… weren't they going somewhere? She didn't know where… Then she was trapped. It was cramped. No way out. But somehow… she was in someone's arms… arms that seemed to be holding on to her for dear life… as if she would crumble if they were to slacken even the tiniest bit… But who was it… who was holding on to her…?

"James…?" Her eyes opened once again and she could see his face, smiling brightly back at her. But other people were entering the room…

Coughing slightly, she tried to push herself up into a sitting position to see who was there.

"Cindy, please! You need your rest! The nurse just left the room to get you some more help!" She could feel James softly trying to push her back down.

"I'm—cough—fine!" Being the stubborn girl she was, James tried not to argue with her. As Cindy sat up, she could see everyone else that was in her room: Libby, Sheen, and Carl. The three immediately came to her side, worried and eager to see how she was doing. Cindy looked from the group to James, immediately wondering if they had, well, talked at all, or even acknowledged each other were there. They didn't even seem to make eye contact with one another...

"L-Libbs… I thought you—cough—were on vacation?" Libby looked at her best friend, with a dumbstruck look on her face.

"Are you serious?" Cindy was a little taken back by her friends comment. Was there something she should know…? "Did you really expect me to stay on vacation while my best friend was dying in the hospital?" Libby smiled at her best friend and Cindy smiled back, slightly coughing in the process.

"Was I really that bad…?" James turned to Libby, Sheen, and Carl and they all glanced nervously at each other.

"You see… Cindy… you honestly shouldn't be alive…" James spoke as slowly as he could, not wanting to think about what _should _or _shouldn't _be. "You lost so much blood, I honestly… I honestly don't know how you're still alive…"

Cindy's face froze as she slowly leaned back into her pile of pillows. Sheen and Carl were rather quiet… usually those two would have tons to be blabbing on about by now… Had she really been that close to dying…? She just couldn't believe it… she felt perfectly fine…

The long-awaited doctor finally entered the room. "Ah, Cynthia Vortex! You've finally awoken!" Finally awoken? How long had she been asleep?

James must have seen the confused look on her face and quietly whispered "3 days" to her. Cindy's eyes grew wide with shock.

"Oh my god…" was all she could say. _"Three days? Were the four of my friends here that whole time? And if they had been, wouldn't that have been long enough for them to talk to each other? Besides, someone had to get a hold of Libby, Sheen, and Carl..."_

"We've been keeping a close eye on you fro the past few days, Miss Vortex. You had a lot of people in this hospital rather worried about you." The dark haired, tan skinned doctor made his way to a cabinet in the corner of the room, next to the wide window. "But I am certainly glad that you have finally woken up! Definitely a good sign for your recovery." He took a few bottles and syringes out of the large cabinet and studied them for a few moments. Cindy winced at what he was probably going to do.

Her doctor made his way over to her bedside. "Now, we just need to give you some medication help with the pain. You've lost a lot of blood and you've suffered from some pretty severe injuries to your left leg and the right side of your head. Tell me, do feel like you don't remember some things? Some people? What happened?" She looked at her doctor intensely. She finally shook her head slightly "no." "Odd… usually someone in your condition would suffer _some_ kind of amnesia…" Cindy couldn't help but glance over to James. Even though he was still holding her right hand, he was staring intensely into the floor. She swore he was burning a whole through it with his laser vision or something.

"Ouch!" Cindy could feel the needle go directly into her arm and winced even after it had been removed.

"That's for the pain," Dr. Stevens (Cindy noticed from his nametag) said. "I'm going to go ahead and let you rest. Your friends might want to do the same," he glanced around to her friends as he said this. "A nurse will be in here in about an hour or so to see how you are doing." Dr. Stevens gave Cindy one final smile and light pat on her shoulder before exiting the room.

Libby stood up from the chair she had been sitting in. "Yeah, we should probably go, Cindy. We've been here pretty much all day and we never really had the time to unpack." Cindy immediately felt guilty.

"Oh my gosh, Libbs, I'm sorry! I had no idea! …of course. But, still!" Libby couldn't help but laugh. "Cindy, it's fine. Calm down. I'm going to go drive Sheen and Carl back to campus. We'll come visit you later today, okay?" Cindy simply smiled and nodded to her best friend.

"Bye, Cindy!" Sheen said, a little more happier than she had seen him earlier.

"Feel better before we come back!" Carl yelled as he exited the room with the other two.

Cindy smiled after the three of them, feeling lucky that she had such great friends.

"Cindy…"

She turned back to the young man that was still at her side. "Do you remember—"

"Shh…" Cindy cut him off. She scooted down her bed to lay her head back down on her pillows. "I think a nap would sound nice right about now, what about you, Jimmy?" She smiled as she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

James couldn't help but smile. At least she answered his question.

--

"Miss Vortex?" Cindy could feel a gentle hand shaking her awake. "I know that you should probably sleep, but I felt that you might what to see who has come to visit you."

Cindy glanced around and saw that James was fast asleep in one of the chairs across from her bed. She looked to the door to see who her next visitor was.

"Mom?" Mrs. Vortex ran to her daughter's side and gave her as much of a hug as she could give. Cindy could feel her face being plastered with thousands of kisses.

"Oh my god, Cindy! You had me so worried! The hospital called me as soon as they found out you were awake and I rushed here as fast as I could!"

Cindy could see out of the corner of her eye that James had woken up, probably from her mother's loud, but concerned voice. He gave her a quick knowing smile and decided he should probably leave Mrs. Vortex and her daughter alone.

"Oh, Cindy! I also brought along some other people that wanted to see you!"

Cindy looked to the door and there they were. James had almost reached the door when they began to enter the room. Mr. and Mrs. Neutron froze in there tracks, and, likewise, so did James. The vase of flowers Mrs. Neutron had been holding seconds before fell to the ground in an ear-shattering crash.

--

If there was any confusion about Libby, Sheen, and Carl not really interacting at all with James, don't worry! It's all part of the story and you'll just have to find out later. I made it a little clearer, though, in case you just thought I was making a plot hole or something and didn't realize it. So thank you for your feedback early on!

I told you, there is still a lot more to this story! Will it ever end? Haha, yes, of course! It's coming to an end (so sad!) I'm going to try to make my last chapter be on the same day as my fic was first published… wouldn't that be neat? Probably won't happen, but hey, I can dream can't I? xD

Like always, please read and review! I'm interested in how you feel about where the story has gone and I'd love some other feedback from you guys as well! I love you all! (AH! Almost to 600 reviews already? Wow!) THANK YOU!

Until next time,

**-brigette (aka: Kaze-no-Tenshi89)**


	31. That Familiar What'sHisName

Ready for another chapter? Even if you aren't, it's here!

Sorry I haven't had a lot of time recently… I've been practicing my butt off most of the time because band tryouts are in two weeks… oh my god! Ahhhh

Also, I removed my Zelda story "Memory of Dreams" because I was just too focused on this one that I just couldn't continue it... heh... oops...

Moving on like usual…

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron. If I did, there would be a fourth season!

**Chapter 31 - That Familiar What's-His-Name**

Mrs. Neutron's eyes were wide. Not "wide as saucers" wide, but "wide as whole freaking serving platters" wide. This young man standing before her… he made her heart stop. Those bright blue eyes of his seemed to stare directly into her soul. It was as if he was thinking the same as she was— _"Why does this person seem SO familiar?"_

From across the room, lying in a bright white hospital bed, Cindy's mind raced. James still hadn't met his parents… nor had Cindy had the time to tell him everything that had happened. How much time had she had anyway? One second he was telling her he remembered everything, the next she was unconscious, then the next she was lying in a hospital bed, too worried about her own health to go into any detail about his past.

As Cindy's mind raced, her lungs decided to try to breathe. Bad idea. For some reason, breath just didn't want to go down just right. And of course, since there are always unfortunate consequences when breath decides to be stubborn, she coughed… rather violently.

The Neutrons and James broke contact and spun around to where Cindy lay, her mother panicking at her bedside.

"Cindy!" her mother screamed, "What's happening? Are you okay? NURSE!"

"Mom! I'm fine!" Cindy maneuvered herself into a sitting position. She could see the Neutrons on her left, standing behind her mother, as James stood worriedly to her right. "I just had a bit of a cough. I'm fine. Stop worrying about me."

Her mother seemed rather offended at Cindy's last statement. "Cynthia! After everything has happened to you, you don't expect me to be in the least bit worried about you?"

"You know, Cindy, I'm going to have to agree with your mother," Mrs. Neutron calmly added. "If you were my own child I'd act the same way…" She slightly trailed off and looked down at the ground, eyes tearing up. Mr. Neutron put his arm around her as she leaned on to him, trying her best not to cry.

Cindy bit her lip nervously, glancing back and forth between the Neutrons and James. "Um… Mr. and Mrs. Neuron? There's something I've been wanting to tell you. I wanted you to—"

"Oh, Miss Vortex!" The same nurse that had been there when Cindy awoke was back again. "Is everything alright? I heard someone call for the nurse!"

"Nurse Brandle!" Cindy's mother exclaimed. "My poor daughter was coughing so violently a few moments ago! I'm so worried there could be something wrong with her!" Nurse Brandle checked over the monitors and had Cindy do a few breathing tests.

"Well, Mrs. Vortex, your daughter seems to be just fine. However, if you would like, I can send Dr. Stevens back in to run a few more tests on her,"

"Mom," Cindy said as she grabbed her mother's wrist, "I'm fine. I promise. You don't need Dr. Stevens to come back in," Mrs. Vortex looked down at her daughter, obviously still concerned. But she saw the determined look on Cindy's face.

"No, thank you. But we will let you know if anything else happens." Nurse Brandle gave the group a smile and left the room.

"Oh, Cindy. Wasn't there something you wanted to tell me?"

Cindy could feel Mrs. Neutron's curious gaze upon her. "Oh, yeah… um, I just wanted to uh… thank you for coming to see me…" Cindy felt defeated. She just couldn't do it…

"Cindy, of course we'd come to visit you! After all, you had bee such a good friend to our Jimmy when you were younger," Instead of crying, Mrs. Neutron gave Cindy one of the kindest smiles Cindy had ever seen. But out of the corner of her eye, she saw the tall figure that had once stood next to her side, dashing out of the hospital room's door.

"Cynthia, who was your friend?" Mrs. Vortex said as she stared at the door. "You never introduced him to us. He seemed a little quiet… is there something wrong with him?"

"Yes… I was wondering that myself… he just seems so, well, _familiar_." Mrs. Neutron joined Mrs. Vortex in staring curiously at the door.

"Oh, um…" Cindy was at a loss for words yet again. Sighing, she realized there was nothing else she could say. "He's just… a friend from school."

--

It was Sunday, the day Cindy was finally let out of the hospital. After she was given a pile of meds to take in order to regain her strength, she was told she _would _(unfortunately) be able to go to class. She just needed to make sure she always had a friend with her in case she became weak and fell.

The rest of the students that had been on spring break were returning that day as well. Stories of beaches and parties floated all around her as she walked through the halls of the residence hall and friends excitedly ran up to one another, full of eager hugs, as she walked through campus.

As her roommate and best friend, Libby had taken on the job of escorting Cindy around before classes began. As much as Cindy didn't want to and as much as she complained that she was "too tired," Libby knew that Cindy had to get up and move in order to regain her strength.

"It's so nice out, isn't it, Cindy?" Libby happily enjoyed the warm breeze that blew through the campus. Yes… it was nice. But no matter how many times Cindy convinced herself that everything would be okay, she couldn't help but think about what had happened the day before.

"_Cindy, since you are finally well enough to get out of the hospital, you probably don't need me hanging around anymore. I need to get back to Ohio, anyway. I told the faculty that there was a family emergency and that I would be back on Monday."_

_Cindy glared at the white tiles on the floor of her hospital room. "So… you really are going back? Even after…" she trailed off._

_James stood up from his seat next to her bed and cleared his throat. "I, uh, yeah… I just… I can't lose this job, Cindy." As much as Cindy wanted to feel hurt, she couldn't. She made him lose his first job and she didn't want to be the reason he lost this one._

"_I… I understand…" Cindy could feel the tears watering up in her eyes and she mentally screamed at herself for letting herself cry. "Just… promise me you'll come back to visit?" _

_James smiled back at her. "I promise."_

_Cindy smiled as one single tear fell down her cheek. _

Right now he was on a plane, heading back to Ohio. Why couldn't he have gotten a job closer to Texas? Or even a job at another university in Texas? There was so much she needed to tell him… about his parents, his friends. She sighed. Why hadn't her friends even acknowledged that James was there? So many things were left unanswered, unspoken...

Libby's eyes shot over to her best friend. She could see the distressed look spread out across Cindy's face and knew exactly what she was thinking about. Feeling now wasn't the right time to go into that, she instead grabbed her best friends arm excitedly.

"Hey, Cindy! It's getting late. Why don't we order a pizza and watch some movies? We haven't had a girl's night in so long!" Cindy stared at her friend. The smile that lit up Libby's face was hard to resist.

"Alright. That sounds fun," Cindy replied. The two best friends, arm in arm, happily made their way back to their dorm room, eager to begin their much-needed night of fun.

--

Sorry that that's all I could write for this chapter. It just felt like it should end there (not the story, the chapter). Stay tuned for the final chapters of this long story! (now almost two years old!)

Thanks for reading and reviewing!!

**-brigette (aka: Kaze-no-Tenshi89)**


	32. The Unexpected Visitor

Hey guys! I expect that you are back for another chapter, ne? Well… fine. I'll give you another chapter… heh. xD

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron. If I did, there would be a fourth season!

**Chapter 32 – The Unexpected Visitor**

"Cynthia!"

"_Dear Lord, mother! Let me get some sleep for a change!" _Cindy angrily pulled her comforter over her head.

"I know it's the summer, dear, but you can't keep sleeping in until 1:00 when you don't have to work!" Mrs. Vortex paused outside her daughter's bedroom door, listening.

Nothing.

"Cindy, are you ignoring me? Because I doubt that you're sleeping!"

"_Man, she's good…"_

Mrs. Vortex began knocking on the door loudly. "Cynthia, honestly! If this hadn't been Sunday, you'd be much easier to get up!"

Cindy froze under her covers, something quite hard to do since they were the comfiest, softest, warmest, fluffiest…

"SUNDAY?" Cindy screamed at the top of her lungs. "Oh, my god…!" Cindy glanced over at her clock. _"Shit, it's already noon! He's going to be here in an hour!"_

"Cindy, what's going on? Is everything okay?"

"NOTHING, MOM!" Cindy yelled in her mom-go-away-I'm-acting-like-a-teenager tone._ "Jesus, I just wish my mom would let me get an apartment so I wouldn't have to come home and live with her during break!"_

--

"Okay, I've got about five minutes… unless he's early… or late." Butterflies erupted in Cindy's already queasy stomach as she stared out her bedroom window and onto the street. Goddard whined at her side, nervous to see a certain mechanical dog again.

And then Cindy saw it. His car. Obviously a rental, but his car nonetheless. She hadn't seen him since spring break back in March… now it was June. What was she going to say to him...? Sure, they had talked on the phone every now and then and occasionally sent emails. But… it wasn't the same.

But the car Cindy had been betting on didn't turn in her driveway. Instead, it pulled into the driveway right across the straight. "Wait… what's he doing! That has to be him…" Sure enough, the man Cindy thought had been in the car climbed out of the now-parked car. "What's he doing!" It'd been almost 8 years since he saw her house, but hadn't she been specific in her directions?

Cindy ran over to her dresser and grabbed her cell phone and immediately began calling him. She stared out the window and saw him pull the phone out of his pocket. As if he knew exactly what she was thinking, he simply said into the phone, "I know what I'm doing," and hung up.

Cindy held the phone to her ear, shocked at what was going on. _"Was he…?"_

_--_

James took a deep breath. _"This is it…" _His shaky hand finally made it's way to the doorbell and the next thing he knew, a thin woman with auburn hair in the most peculiar hairstyle answered the door.

"Oh, hello. Can I help you?" The woman smiled brightly back at the nervous young man.

"H-Hi. Are you… Mrs. Neutron?"

"Why, yes. Is there something I can do for you?" Mrs. Neutron stared at the young man curiously and immediately knew why he seemed familiar. "Aren't you the boy from the hospital? Cindy's friend from school?"

"Yes, yes, I am. I um... Wanted to… You, see…" James couldn't remember what he had wanted to say.

Mrs. Neutron had absolutely no idea what was going on. "Is something wrong with Cindy? Did something happen to her again?" She could only figure that this young man would be at her door for that reason.

"Oh… no! No, no. Nothing's wrong with Cindy," James said frantically. "I mean, well, not that I know of at least." He stared down at floor and tried to regain some more courage for what he was about to do next.

"I, um, actually wanted to come by and, well, introduce myself." Mrs. Neutron had no idea why this young man had taken the time to drive over to her house just to introduce himself, but she decided to be polite about it.

"My name is James Neutron." And just like that, Mrs. Neutron was out cold on the floor.

--

"Judy! Judy, wake up!" Mr. Neutron gently shook his wife as she lay on the couch, not wanting to resort to dumping water on her head. He turned around to where the young man sat. "And you were just introducing yourself to her?"

"Y-yeah…" James didn't want to say anything else until she was awake.

"Well, that's odd. I wonder if she saw the rare southern red duck. That sure would have put me out! What a sight that would be!" Mr. Neutron paused for a bit, inspiration hitting him. "Judy, don't make me bring out my new Super Deluxe-Edition Duck Call!" Mrs. Neutron's eyes instantly shot wide-open.

"H-Hugh! My goodness! What happened?" Mrs. Neutron slowly sat up on the couch and tried to figure out what she was doing there. But then she noticed him, sitting harmlessly in a chair near her. "Y-You…" was all she could make out before James decided to just get on with it.

"I know… You're probably wondering what's going on." Mrs. Neutron nodded furiously and Mr. Neutron just looked utterly confused.

"I didn't even know there was something going on…" Mr. Neutron said to himself as he stared off into the ceiling.

"I apologize for being so sudden earlier, but I—"

"Sudden? SUDDEN?" Mrs. Neutron nearly screamed. "First you show up at my door and claim to be my dead son and now you apologize for being sudden?" Too bad James forgot how emotional and temperamental his mother could be…

Mr. Neutron snapped back into reality. "He says he's Jimmy?" Mrs. Neutron gave her husband an unnecessary glare.

"I know! I know! I honestly didn't know how else to tell you! But you have to believe me, I'm your son!" James looked desperate, and Mr. and Mrs. Neutron could tell that. But there was just one thing that wasn't right…

"I'm sorry, whoever you are, but our son died 8 years ago on a stupid trip he insisted on taking for a school project," Judy said with a hint of regret. "You probably wouldn't even believe where he went even if I told you!"

"Mars."

"Excuse me?"

"He went to Mars."

Mrs. Neutron looked like James just got up, walked over to her, and slapped her in the face. "But… he… you… Cindy's been telling you things, hasn't she?"

"No… well, kind of, but—"

"I knew it! And I thought she was such a nice girl! She's probably trying to prove us wrong once and for all that he's alive! Well, I'm not buying this for a minute!" Mrs. Neutron was already on her feet and heading toward the door to show her uninvited guest the way out.

"Please, let me explain!" By now, James was on his feet, looking left and right. On his right was Mrs. Neutron who clearly didn't want to hear any more of his "nonsense." On his left was Mr. Neutron who hadn't said a word the whole entire time. His left seemed like the way to go.

James gave Mr. Neutron the most desperate look he could muster, hoping and praying for a chance to just explain everything. Mr. Neutron looked back at the young man with interest and finally gave in. "Now, sugar-booger, don't you think you're being a little tough on him? We can at least hear him out."

Mrs. Neutron looked back at her husband and sighed, defeated. "Alright."

--

"Eight years ago, Cindy, Libby, Sheen, Carl, Goddard, and I went to Mars to find some rock samples. I warned everyone about the Martians we had run into last time but apparently one of us decided to try to outsmart them. Cindy brought water, a substance that greatly harms them, and thus, they got rather angry at us. They began to attack us. I safely got the rest of the group into the rocket and I knew that someone would have to distract the Martians so everyone else could get away safely. Unfortunately, that was me. I could see that everyone was safely on their way back to Earth, but I was left to fight the Martians. They were really pretty violent. They threw me around quite a bit, even knocking me unconscious. Why they didn't kill me is a mystery to me.

"When I woke up, I was lying on a rock, my head in excruciating pain. I could see the Martians off in the distance, talking amongst themselves, occasionally glancing over to me. I tried my best to hear what they were talking about, but all I could her were rapid mumbles of speech.

"After a while of what sounded like bickering and arguing, the largest of the Martians, perhaps the leader, walked over to me. He carried with him a large device that had buttons and what appeared to be a sort of ray at the end of it. Without even a glance toward me, he began attaching the device to the rock by pressing various buttons on the device. When I tried to ask what he was doing, he simply waved me off, apparently too busy to explain. When he was finished, he simply said to me, 'You're a lucky Earthling, but this will hurt.' With that, he pressed a large button on the device and a ray of energy shot out of the device, propelling me, hanging on to the rock of dear life, into the Martian atmosphere and out into space. I didn't even have a second to think about what had just happened before I was rushing through space, heading straight for Earth.

"In the time that I've had my memory, I still haven't been able to figure out why the Martian's decided to spare me. Maybe it was they felt bad for me? Maybe they feared I was harmful? Maybe they figured out that my body is actually 65 percent water, the very substance they fear the most? I may never know.

"Back to where I was flying through space, I could see that the Martians weren't so bad with the whole aiming-thing. Central Texas seemed to be the exact place I had been aiming for. But after I had made it through the atmosphere, surprisingly unharmed, my direction started to shift southeast. I could see that I was headed into the outskirts of some large city, as I could see the city off in the distance. Unfortunately, the ground began zooming towards me and I, unable to steer myself away, could see the horrible situation I was about to be involved in. Two cars were heading towards each other down the country road and I was heading straight for the center. All I remember of the crash was the rock exploding on impact with the street, me flying through the air, and the sound of the two cars slamming into one another.

"I remember waking up in the hospital, having no memory of anything. But when a nurse came to me and asked for my name, all I could remember were the screams of a girl yelling 'Jimmy.' So that's what I told her. Apparently, one of the car crash victims was named James, and even around the same age as me, because the nurse came in later to tell me that the rest of my family had died when a drunk driver hit the car. When I think about it now, I can't believe how the other driver had coincidentally been intoxicated…

"I had no recollection of anything, whatsoever, so I believed what they told me at the hospital. After I was well enough to leave, I went to live with my grandmother, my father's mother. Though the hospital never said anything, my grandmother always commented on how my head had been horribly disfigured in the crash. Most of the pictures she had of 'me' before the crash were thrown out or hidden away. Mirrors were limited in the house, as well. She apparently didn't want me to be depressed about how ugly I now was.

"Of all the things I kept from being Jimmy Neutron, I kept my intelligence. My newfound intelligence shocked my teachers, but especially my grandmother. At fourteen, she sent me off to college. From there, we barely spoke, but she still sent me money to survive. While in college, I found my love of teaching and decided to become a science professor. Four years later, I was at my first teaching job at the University of Texas at Austin. But on that first day of classes, something happened that I really didn't expect. I met Cindy Vortex."

--

"Jeez, Goddard! It's been almost an hour! You would think he'd been done by now…" As soon as Cindy finished her complaining, the doorbell rang and she was flying down the stairs.

"Sorry about that, Cindy. I had to take care of a few things." James nodded back towards his parents' house. Cindy was no longer annoyed at him and instead smiled understandingly.

"So," Cindy brightly said as she popped out the front door, latched on to James's arm, "what did you want to do first?"

"Well," James said as he stroked his chin thoughtfully, "how about we visit Libby, Carl, and Sheen?"

Cindy stopped walking, bringing James to an unpleasant halt. "You never did tell me why you didn't talk to them in the hospital. You remembered them, didn't you?"

"Of course I did! I just…" James blushed, rather ashamed, "I was just so worried about you… I know they tried talking to me, but I wouldn't respond. I don't know if they really know who I am."

"Hm… I know what you mean. Libby is rather stubborn about it." Cindy motioned for the two of them to continue walking down the sidewalk. "Well, looks like were just going to have to convince them!"

James sighed jokingly. "I hope this convincing is a lot easier than before!"

Cindy glanced up at James, confused. "What do you—"

"Nothing." James simply smiled at the girl he loved, latched tightly on to his arm.

--

In case you were wondering, this is kind of the end, but there IS an epilogue!

I hope this chapter clearly explained to you what happened to Jimmy after the others left Mars.

Stay tuned for the long awaited END!

Thanks for reading and reviewing! Your input is greatly appreciated!

**-brigette (aka: Kaze-no-Tenshi89)**


	33. Epilogue

Sorry for the long wait guys. I had tryouts and such and no, I didn't make it. Though, I really wasn't expecting to. It was a great experience though and now I feel prepared to go through with it again next year! My boyfriend made it on snare drum though so wish him luck this year :)

So I've also been watching a bunch of Hayao Miyazaki movies lately and I really want to write a Nausicaä fanfiction (a shorter story, not as long as this one) Anyone interested in reading something like that?

Anyway, on to the long-awaited epilogue you've all been waiting for! Sorry it's kind of short, but epilogues tend to be that way…

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron. If I did, there would be a fourth season!

**Chapter 33 – Epilogue**

James tiredly rolled over in his bed, aimlessly trying to swipe at the god-forsaken thing that was making that terrible noise. _"Just ten… more… minutes…" _However, being tired and having one's eyes practically glued shut did not give one very good aim. Instead, the lamp that sat on James's nightstand was knocked off the table and fell to the ground in a terrible crash.

Now he was awake.

"Damn…" James angrily muttered to himself. _"What time is it, anyway?" _He tiredly glanced down at his clock, displaying an ever-depressing "8:05." James rubbed his eyes as he slowly made his way out of bed.

Today was the first day of classes and his first class was at 9:20. He still had plenty of time, but the apartment he unfortunately lived in was about 10 minutes from campus. _"That's what I get for starting teaching on such late notice last year…" _

As James made his way to the large campus, a mixture of emotions ran through him. Sure, starting a new school year was always interesting and fun. He got to meet a lot of new people and had the chance to do the one thing he loved most: teach. But in the midst of all his excitement, deep down, he was alone.

"_Why can't you try to get a teaching job at the University of Texas again?" Cindy protested for the tenth time._

"_I already told you. I've tried to explain things to them, but they simply won't take me back. Let's face it, I'm not going to be able to teach there." As much as James didn't want to admit it, he knew he had to leave._

"_But why do you have to teach in Ohio? There are so many good universities in Texas you could teach at!" Tears that had formed so often behind Cindy's emerald green eyes were once again on the verge of spilling out._

"_Cindy, I've already told you. I have such a good position at Ohio State. There are so many opportunities for research that I simply haven't been able to find at any other university around here. I know it's far away, but this is my job, my career, my life. I can't let this opportunity pass me by."_

"_So… I mean nothing to you?" Cindy didn't want to say it, but she was so hurt at the moment she couldn't help but have it slip out._

_James was shocked at what she had just said. "Cindy, don't say that! You know I love you! I promise I'll be able to see you during holidays and in the summer when I don't have classes. It'll work out!" He tried so hard to convince himself that everything would be okay, but he had a hard time doing that. It seemed so much easier to SAY things would be okay rather than to actually believe they would be._

Whenever he thought about that moment, James always felt a slight headache coming on. It was hard enough that he had to leave her… it was worse that she had to bring it up again as he stood in the security line at the airport, waiting to board his plan to go back to Ohio. He could still see her running away from him, the long line of passengers staring at him and the hysterical girl.

Why did things have to end that way?

No… they didn't "end." It just wasn't the parting he had expected…

--

James made his way to his first class of the day, Astrophysics 101. He searched through his leather briefcase, trying to find his stack of syllabuses he needed to hand out to his class. As the students began filing into the room, he scanned the room, seeing if he recognized any faces, hoping that some former students were inspired to further their knowledge of Astronomy because of his wonderful teaching.

Oh, the wishful thinking of a professor.

James glanced at the clock hanging above the doorway. _"9:21… I better get started." _

"Well, good morning class. Before we begin I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Professor James Neu—" The classroom door squeaked open loudly, interrupting James's introduction. A thin, middle-aged woman with dark hair and thick-rimmed glasses peeked in.

"I'm sorry, Professor Neutron. I was hoping to make it here before your class began." James smiled and waved it off, suggesting there was no problem and that she could continue. "I just had a young lady schedule for some classes this morning and she decided to take your Astrophysics class. She's a transfer student and had some last-minute schedule changes."

"Oh, that's perfectly fine. Just have her find a seat. I haven't even started yet, so you came at the perfect time." James smiled at the lady, assuring her that there was no problem. He turned back to his class, ready to continue his introduction.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the girl walking in the back of the classroom, taking a seat in one of the desks in the last row. He noticed she had blonde hair but couldn't get a good look at her face.

"Now, my name is Professor James Neutron. I will be your professor for this introductory course to Astrophysics. I have a syllabus here for you that I would like you all to read. Now, since this is the first day of class, we can play some of those games so I can get to know some of you. I do see some familiar faces, but there are still many I do not know."

Some of the students groaned, but introduced themselves nonetheless. When it came to be the new girl's turn he didn't even look at her. He grabbed his grade book so he could jot this new girl's name down. "Now, I don't have your name written down here so please speak up so I can get it spelled right."

The blonde girl looked up from the desk she had been staring at the entire time. As the two made eye contact, James's heart skipped several beats and his legs went limp. He grabbed the desk he was standing next to in order to support himself.

"My name is Cynthia Vortex."

--

Sometimes there are things we all have to do, even if it means being away from the ones we love. If those we love understand that, perhaps they will accept that. Maybe even follow us through whatever we do and wherever we go.

I hope you enjoyed the story. It's been so fun to write. There may not have been as much romance/fluff as some of you may have wanted, but love isn't always about the fluff and cuteness. It's about the strength and determination of two people who will believe that no matter what happens, love will survive and get them through even the toughest of times.

I believe that even a lost memory cannot keep two people who destined to be together apart forever.

Thank you for reading and reviewing. These two years have been wonderful!

**-brigette (aka: Kaze-no-Tenshi89)**


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